I am Not a Curse (Re-Write)
by Snow32Lily
Summary: After Valka is saved from death by a cure consisting dragon saliva, it results in an unforeseen consequence for their daughter. A re-write of my very first story. Hybrid!Hiccup. Female!Hiccup.
1. A Curse? Or a Blessing?

**Why did I decide to post this instead of Fright of Passage basically pulling a Steven Universe and putting a hiatus only a few episodes into the season? Well there's a few reasons for why I'm re-writing this story in general, but the timing is really because of Astrid's character as I portrayed her in the movie vs when doing the series. You see I had always been debating on adding her in or not, so her character and arc never really got developed like the other things that I had planned. As the series progressed, however, I started to get a handle of who her character was and where it would go. The only problem was my first story. I stupidly put her in a box in my haste to include her in a last minute decision without thinking of the future and the repercussions. I tried coming up with an excuse, but no matter how I have Hiccup phrase it, it just comes out wonky and is just blatantly clear that I messed up and am just trying to back peddle. Fright of Passage is an Astrid based episode and is the first real step in her path or arc. As such I needed to get this out first before Fright of Passage. **

**Now you're probably asking, "Why didn't you just do this before Defenders of Berk?" And the answer to that is because I'm stupid sometimes. What ya gonna do?**

**Anyway, most of the prologue is the same, just some execution was changed, and there was some editing done to fix some inconsistencies, oversights, or sentences were deleted or changed cause they were unnecessary.**

**Really most of the changes of this re-write are execution based. The biggest changes you'll see is I'll be adding more perspectives. Specifically Aric's and Toothless' because I stupidly missed the opportunities to do their perspectives (especially Toothless') the first time. **

**This, and the writing oversights are why I decided to re-write the story, but also because I've become pretty good at knowing when and how to deviate from the source material and wanted to create a better story from a writing standpoint.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this rendition. There are many things that are the same, but also different. Some differences will be more noticeable than others. **

**ENJOY! :)**

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_**_―_**_**A Curse? Or a Blessing?**_

_Long ago, there was a world filled with dragons. All different kinds with all different shapes, sizes, and colors. And in this world was the Isle of Berk, the home to the tribe of the Hairy Hooligans. But on this humble island, disaster had struck; not the normal type of disaster, but one that didn't have the simple solution of swing your ax at it. Within the Chief's household was where his beloved wife, Valka, laid sick from an illness not even Gothi, their oldest and wisest healer, could find the cure to. Stoick cared for his wife the best he could those endless days, but when there was nothing left he could do, he became lost in his own mind. He had loved her more than anything, and vowed to protect her no matter what. A mysterious illness was the one thing he couldn't protect her from. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, Stoick felt completely helpless. All he could do was watch her suffer, and it tore his heart out. It wasn't until a whole week later that good news finally burst threw his door..._

"Stoick! Stoick, she's found something!" Gobber exclaimed, overjoyed by whatever discovery was made. Stoick tried to ask what Gothi had found but Gobber wouldn't stop blabbering. "Oh it's incredible, you wouldn't have even guessed―"

"Gobber!" the chief shouted. "Care to share what this_ incredible_ thing is?" he continued in a quiet but still impatient and frustrated tone.

"Oh ya, heh, sorry Chief."

Gothi then proceeded to draw in the dirt outside the house and Gobber read it aloud for Stoick.

"She says that while rummaging through century old books of our past shamans, she had found a potion she believes might save Valka. Next to the potion's ingredients, the description of the ailment it's supposed to cure matches the symptoms of your wife's. It's possible this is the cure for what's taken her. She has the ingredients, but needs the saliva of a dragon to complete it.

"Well, what dragon is it?! Where is the beast?!" he exclaimed, now with hope in his eyes.

Gothi's face became solemn, for the dragon they sought would not be easy to find, nor would getting its saliva. Before Gobber read out Gothi's writing, his eyes widened and his voice was one of shock and slight horror. "The dragon we need is a… _Night Fury_", he finally said after a moment of him just staring at Gothi's writing.

Stoick, while a little taken back, did not lose hope, though. Instead determination shone in his eyes. He turned back to Valka's sleeping form and took her hand.

"Don't worry, Val. I'm going to find that illusive demon for you. You just have to hold on for a little longer", he told her, and then he wasted no time in gathering supplies and meeting Gobber on the docks to set sail for the Isle of Night. It was said that that was the home of the Night Fury, people reporting sightings of the beasts flying to and from the island; it was but a rumor, possibly nothing more than a sailor's tall tale, but it was also their best shot of possibly finding any Night Furies.

The two friends made it to the isle in good time, and they began searching the mountainous island. Three days they searched, but not even one black scale could be found. Stoick knew it wouldn't be easy to find such an illusive creature, but his hope was quickly diminishing. What if this island's tale was just a myth? What if he'd come out here for nothing and his beloved had already left this realm?

As Gobber slept, Stoick stared out over the northern horizon to the direction of Berk. The moon was out in it's full state shining brightly over the waves. It only made him miss her more. This night, so much like the one he shared with Valka not too long ago, brought him to the memory of when he asked for her hand. They were spending the evening on the south side of the island on the beach sharing a small picnic he had prepared that day. He had nearly forgotten having only recently become Chief and swamped with new duties left and right, so the food was nothing very impressive. A chicken only slightly burnt, some bread, and a bit of ale he quickly grabbed at the last minute. Nonetheless, Valka enjoyed their dinner and they sat there until the sun came down and the moon had risen. That's when Valka decided to go for a little walk on the shore, and Stoick had no objection. After about fifteen minutes, he decided it to be the perfect time. He suddenly stopped their trek and turned to his beautiful girl-friend taking her hand, and asking her the one question he hoped with all his heart she'd say yes to.

Stoick was taken from his thoughts when he suddenly thought he heard something from behind a few rocks not too far away. Waking Gobber, he decided they should check it out, the sound of growling, chirping, and cooing getting louder as they walked. After only a short hike they came across a cave, and carefully peaking inside from behind a boulder not too far away from it, Stoick saw the very thing he'd been after. Night Furies. Three small hatchlings to be exact. Their scales were as black as night, nearly invisible in the darkness, and only seen from the light the full moon provided and the piercing royal blue and acid green of their eyes.

"I wonder where's the mother is?" Gobber wondered as they watched the dragons pounce onto one another.

"Probably out hunting. We need to move, now", Stoick responded thankful their chances had risen in acquiring the saliva. Hatchlings were small and had no control of their abilities; they'd be easy to over power. But this also meant that they'd have to move fast. If the mother returned they'd surly be dead in an instant. They quickly rushed into the cave and the hatchlings scattered frightened. Good. Gobber grabbed one that had cornered itself against the wall swiftly restraining the little squirming Night Fury. The little guy put up a fight, but it didn't stand a chance in Gobber's tight hold. Quickly, Stoick used one hand to pry the dragon's tiny mouth open, and the other to catch the saliva that drooled out into a cup. That's when they swore they heard the mother's roar. Dropping the Night Fury, the two hurried out of the cave hoping the mother never saw them and they could return home as smoothly as they had come.

* * *

Stoick and Gobber finally made it back to the shores of Berk, and Gobber wasted no time in taking the saliva to Gothi, as Stoick rushed home to his beloved Valka prayed she was alright to any god who would listen. Unfortunately, she only looked worse than when he had left days prior. Her skin was a deathly pale and her breathing labored. He sat next to her and gently brushed away the hair from her sweat coated forehead. "Don't worry Val, everything will be okay. Gothi will be here soon with the cure, and you'll be all better. You'll be okay." He knew there was no guarantee the solution would work, but he couldn't handle the thought of losing her.

Gothi then came in and quickly walked over to the bed handing the solution to Stoick. He gave it to Valka to drink, lifting her head as she was far too weak, barely able to open her eyes. They would have to wait to see if it worked, but Stoick swore he saw his beloved's breathing already returning to normal. It filled his heart with hope and happiness at last.

The very next morning, Stoick was the happiest he could have ever been to see Valka feeling much better. As soon as he saw her with her eyes open, hearing her wonderful voice, he couldn't help but hug her as tight as possible wanting to never let go. About two weeks later, the village and Stoick were even happier to hear the news of Valka's apparent pregnancy, and how the child seemed to be miraculously okay, it too surviving the illness that plagued its mother not too long ago. Stoick had not only saved his wife, but his unborn child as well, and he couldn't wait for his little survivor to arrive.

* * *

The arrival came sooner than expected. Only 8 months into the pregnancy, Valka was in labor and about to give birth. She was screaming bloody murder, squeezing her husband's hand until he wasn't sure if he could even feel it anymore. It was far too early for the baby to arrive; it wasn't due for at the very least another five weeks. He knew his child could very well be a runt; it may not survive its first few weeks, especially being born in the dead of winter. His suspicions were unfortunately proven correct when the child finally arrived, and Valka's screams had at last ceased.

Before they were handed the child, the midwife warned it was indeed very tiny, and may not make it. However, she failed to mention how that wasn't the only problem with the baby. When Stoick was handed his new born child he looked at it with shock. The baby was a girl with beautiful forest green eyes and light auburn hair. She had mostly Valka's face, but his eyes; a perfect blend between the two of them. But that was the extent of the good news. What the new baby girl also possessed were tiny black wings and a tail with two fins on the end, as well as two ears protruding from the top back of her head instead of human ears that should have been at the side. Instead that area was blank, only replaced with pale skin, as if nothing should have existed there.

Stoick didn't know what to think when he handed Valka the creature she had just brought into the world. His daughter was clearly part Night Fury. It only made sense from how the features matched the ones of the dragons he had spotted when gathering the hatchling's saliva to save his wife. What he couldn't understand was how? How did this happen? Was this a curse brought forth by the gods? Why was his daughter part dragon?

Suddenly, it hit the Chief like a Gronkle charging at you in full speed. The saliva must have done something to his child while she was developing; besides for the gods placing some kind of curse, it was the only thing that made sense. Or maybe it was both. After all, Valka would have never needed the saliva if she hadn't suddenly become ill in the first place. He looked back at his smiling wife and daughter, Valka seeming unfazed by how her child turned out. Valka looked up at him after a moment of looking down at their little girl and her smile turned into a concerned frown as if she knew of the war going on in his mind.

"I know she's different Stoick", she spoke with a soft voice. "But we're not getting rid of her", her tone shifted to that of a stern one.

"But Val, she's part dragon", he reasoned. "She could never fit into the tribe with a demon lurking inside her."

"How many times do I have to tell you dragons aren't demons."

"I know how you feel, dear, but face it. Allowing her to grow up could be dangerous. Berk could be destroyed by her very hand."

"Oh please, you don't know that. For all you know she could end this war. Maybe this isn't a curse, but a blessing. Maybe the gods have sent her to finally bring peace."

That made Stoick pause and rethink. Maybe if he could somehow stifle the demon inside her, somehow bring a warrior out, maybe she could indeed end the war. Being one of them, she could know their weaknesses, maybe find their nest, and bring those beasts down once and for all. It might be tricky; he'd have to make sure the dragon was contained first, but maybe there was a chance. Maybe he wouldn't have to give up his miracle of a girl. Maybe she was a blessing. After all, she'd made it this far, and he had no doubts now that his strong warrior would make it through the winter.

"Your right Val, maybe she _can _one day bring peace", he said looking down at their little girl with a new found belief in her. "She'll be the strongest of them all."

* * *

**Hope this was satisfactory. Next week, This is Berk. And then, maybe Fright of Passage. I'm kinda doing this by ear.**


	2. Just Another Morning in Berk

_**Chapter 2**__**―Just Another Morning in Berk:**_

_(15 years later)_

Early in the morning, when the sun had not yet even risen, sat the quiet village of Berk. Not a one Viking was stirring that morning as they still lay asleep in their homes, except for one fifteen year old girl who sat in her room gazing out the large window over her bed. She was writing in her journal as she looked out to the quiet village.

…_This is Berk. Its twelve days North of hopeless, and a few degrees South of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. __M__y village. If I had to describe it in a word, I'd say… sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and charming views of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, while most places have mice or mosquitoes, we have__―_

Suddenly the horn was blown. "Dragons," the girl finished dryly.

Quickly, she rushed out of bed, took her black cloak, and raced to the door only to be greeted with a blast of fire by a Monstrous Nightmare. She slammed the door shut immediately, preventing herself from being toast, and once she heard the Nightmare leave due her stupid superior hearing, she opened the door again and ran outside escaping her burning house as flying weapons and flames consumed the village at every turn. She made her way to the forge dodging it all and ignoring all the angry shouts to get inside.

_You would think we would have left by now, but no. We're Vikings. We don't back down from a fight! And, we might have some… stubbornness issues… Oh, my name's Hiccup by the way. Great name, I know, but it's not the worst. It's become a bit of a tradition now as parents once believed a hideous name would ward off gnomes and trolls. Like out charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that._

"Hiccup?!" her dad shouted angrily when she ran passed, grabbing her arm and stopping her run. He was a man close to seven feet tall, a giant compared to his daughter of just over five feet, with dark red hair and a great thick beard. "What is she doing out again—? What are you doing out!" He didn't give her time to answer before shoving her off. "Get back inside!" he ordered.

_The Chief of the tribe? Stoick the Vast. Also known as my extremely over protective father. They say that when he was a baby he popped a dragon's head clean off of it's shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes I do._

At last, Hiccup made it to the forge, passing by her mentor and practically second father, Gobber. He was a little shorter than her father with a long blond braided mustache and a bald head covered by his helmet. "Ah! Nice of ya to join the party. I thought you might have been carried off", he joked to her as he straightened out a sword with his prosthetic hammer. Gobber had multiple prosthetics for his left hand he'd lost. Just about any tool imaginable could be attached to his stump, his standard choice being a hook. Meanwhile, his right leg was just a wooden peg.

"Wha-, who me?" Hiccup replied in the same sarcastic fashion as she took off her fur vest, donning her apron. "Nah, come on, I'm_ way_ too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with _all this_", she continued, putting away one of Gobber's heavy prosthetics followed by a pose showing off her muscles, or lack there of.

"They need toothpicks, don't they?" her mentor shot back, and Hiccup merely gave a look of 'yeah, okay'.

_The __local __meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands__, also known as your friendly neighborhood blacksmith,__ is Gobber. __He's pretty much the only one who takes my sarcasm and rolls with it with his own brand. Sometimes I think I got it from him. __I__'ve known him since as far back as I can remember and have__ been his apprentice __since I was maybe around eight__._

He was also one of the only few that knew of her secret—the others including her father, the mid-wife that helped bring her into the world, and Gothi—due to him always having to baby sit when her father was busy. Not to mention the fact that she knew they wouldn't have been able to keep the secret from him for long even if her father had tried. Gobber had even made her diapers; custom made for the tail she hid under the cloak she always wore. She was half dragon; which species, she'd never know. Any time she mentioned her dragon half, her father would always ignore the matter saying it didn't matter and to just focus on keeping that side of her at bay. She never mentioned it anymore.

Opening the shutters to the main window of the forge, Hiccup grabbed the weapons thrust to her for repair. Her attention was drawn away from work, however, when another house's roof was burned down by a dragon's fire. Looks like another new house was gonna be under construction. That is unless the fire brigade could save it, and this included the other teens of the island. The first teen she saw from the shop's window was a chubby blond boy.

_There's only a few other teens on the island around my age. First there's Fishlegs. H__e was once my closest friend when we were little__―__well, just littler for me__―__but __after a few years, __he__ started__ avoiding me. I think__ it was because __he was getting bullied and picked on for being my friend, not that he isn't still picked on, but being seen playing or simply sitting with me probably made it worse. I get it, but it still hurts._

Next, a muscle bound lad with black hair passed. _Then there's my cousin, Snotlout. H__e's __just __your typical Viking brute, valuing brawn over brain and always showing off any chance he can get__._

After him, came a blond pair of twins fighting over a pale of water. _And then there'__s__ the twins__, Ruffnut and Tuffnut; just as their names suggest they're a couple of nuts always looking for trouble and wanting to make Loki proud._

Another blond pair of siblings, brother and sister, came into her sight next dutifully rushing to the fire. _And finally, the Hofferson siblings; Aric and Astrid. They're… well, they're Hoffersons. They're each focused, strong, and pretty much train every waking moment; I hardly see them do anything else. Other than that, Astrid's about a year older than Aric, and Aric… Well…_

A fire ball was fired at the house exploding it to splinters just as the teens had all unloaded their first buckets of water, and Hiccup simply couldn't help the smile spreading across her face seeing Aric looking so heroic leading his troop with a wall of fire behind him. She leaned her head onto her hand, her elbow resting on the window's counter, sighing dreamily.

_...I might have a major crush on him. I can't help it. Even through that strong tough guy facade, I can still see a soft and kind heart. I wish I could be out there with them. Maybe then I'd actually have a shot. _

Hiccup was just about to hop out the window to do so, when unfortunately Gobber caught her pulling her away from the window by her cloak, luckily not revealing any scaly parts to anyone.

"Ah ah, not so fast", he said with her dangling in the air.

"Oh come on… Let me out", she pleaded. "Please? I need to make my mark."

"Oh you've made plenty of marks", Gobber stated plopping her back down on the ground. "All in the wrong places."

"Please, two minutes. I-I'll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitely better… I might even get a date." '_Hopefully Aric.'_

"Lass, you can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an ax…you can't even throw one of these", he exclaimed lifting a bola, only for someone to snatch it from his hand and throw it at a passing Gronckle.

Okay true, she was weak, despite her father's hopes in her gaining some muscle when making her Gobber's apprentice, but that was what her skills for invention were for. "Okay, fine, but this…" referring to her new bola launcher, "…will throw it for me." She thought the reveal would convince him, but just as she pat it, she accidentally set it off hitting a man in the face.

_'Oops'_, she cringed.

"See, now this here is what I'm talking about", her mentor exclaimed.

"It's just a mild calibration issue—"

"Hiccup, if you ever want to get out there and fight dragons you need to stop all of…this."

"But you just pointed to all of me!" Hiccup pointed out.

"Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you."

"Ohhhh…" Hiccup drawled seeing where he was going.

"Ohhhh…yes", Gobber mimicked.

"You sir are playing a dangerous game, keeping this much raw Viking―ness contained… There will be consequences!"

"I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpened. Now", her mentor responded dropping a heavy sword in her arms and sending her to the stone grinder where she sharpened the sword, all the while thinking. She hoped that while she yelled at him her pupils hadn't accidentally slit again. It really only happened when she felt intense anger or fear, but unlike her tail, ears, and wings, which she had mastered at keeping still, she still had no control over her eyes. And that made her a bit paranoid about it. Gobber had a tendency to accidentally let things slip out to her father, and Hiccup really didn't want to be put into the cage again.

She hated that stupid cage; it sat in her room all small and cold, and it made her feel like an animal. Especially when she could see the foot of her nice warm bed just on the other side of the room. Sure that was the purpose, but she still didn't like it. Her father had started using it since she was about five; any time she would act dragonish in any way, shape, or form, she'd be put in 'time out' for the night. Her father always told her "if you're going to act like a dragon, I'll treat you like a dragon." In retrospect it seemed to be a sound way to keep her monster at bay, but she still found it to be a cruel and unnecessary punishment. Especially when she hadn't had a purposeful blunder in years. It's not like she was trying to be dragony. It was always an accident.

She decided to stop thinking about that, rather focusing on sharpening the sword in front of her instead. But that only lasted a short time as her mind wandered to how she could prove herself to the village, and more importantly,her father.

_One day I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon is everything around here. A Nadder head is sure to get me at least noticed. Gronckles are tough. Taking down one of those would definitely ge__t the boys' interest__. A Zipp__le__back? Exotic__;__ exciting. Two heads, twice the status._ _And then__, __there's the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire._

A loud, long whistle was heard, and looking up and around Hiccup knew what it meant. _But the ultimate prize is the dragon __only few have __ever seen. We call it the—_

"Night Fury!"

"Get down!"

Evidently everyone else heard the warning as well, taking cover for when the blast came._ This thing never steals food, never shows itself, and... _the fast and elusive dragon shot one of the catapults with one precise ball of purple and blue fire _…never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury__._

"But I'm going to be the first", Hiccup said to herself, eyes narrowing determined.

Just as luck would have it Gobber was needed in the escalating fight for their livestock, and while Gobber ordered her to stay, it was a given that Hiccup didn't listen. Instead she decided that this was the perfect time to try out her new launcher on the Night Fury. She took off her apron, thrust on her vest, and raced out the forge as fast as she could, ignoring everyone's calls to get back inside. Once she reached a spot on a hill where she could get a clear shot, she set the launcher up and waited.

Hiccup stared up into the starry night, her vision exquisite in the dark, waiting for the beast to show itself. It was silent for a bit, just waiting for that telltale whistle, when she finally heard it; it was faint, but she could still hear its warning, and she got in position to shoot. Soon, the whistle grew louder, a silhouette of the dragon where the stars disappeared, and the dragon shot the catapult nearby giving her a split second to see it in the light it had created. She fired, the kick back of the weapon thrusting her backwards to the ground. She quickly sat back up, and when she did, she swore she saw it go down into the forest, a loud roar echoing out as it plummeted.

"Oh", she breathed in fascination. "I hit it." She couldn't believe it; she had actually hit the elusive creature despite all the odds. "Yes, I hit it!" she jumped up with glee. "Did anybody see that?" Hiccup turned back, but turned out no one noticed. Oh well. She knew where it approximately fell. She could just show them. Hiccup then heard a crunch sound behind her, and when she turned around again she saw a big red Monstrous Nightmare looming over her. "Except for you", she said to it dryly. The dragon growled, and Hiccup did the one smart thing she could do; she ran as fast as her feet could carry her screaming.

The dragon chased her down, nearly chomping down at the edge of her cloak multiple times, when she found a poll in the middle of town that she could hide behind to catch her breath. The beast decided it best to fire anyway, fire consuming the wooden pillar, but Hiccup untouched by the blast. Hiccup didn't hear the beast anymore, so she thought it might have gotten bored and flown off. She decided to check, but as she peaked around, she heard a yell and something being hit. The dragon had tried to sneak up on her, Hiccup realized when she'd turned back around, and she watched as her father beat the beast back, but it wasn't exactly much of a fight with the dragon having run out of fire. At that point, though, it didn't matter. The raid was over. The Nightmare was subdued and taken away, and that was the end of it, much of their livestock gone thanks to Hiccup indirectly freeing some Nadders when her father had to go save her.

The poll she was hidden behind burned through and fell causing even more damage to the village, nearly crushing a few Vikings. All she could do was cringe at the sight and Hiccup could just see her father's furious face even though her back was turned. "Sorry…dad… But I hit a Night Fury?" She thought that might lighten his mood, but evidently not.

Instead, he grabbed her roughly trying to drag her home. "It's not like the last few times dad! I mean I really actually hit it! You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party down there and—"

"STOP!" her dad shouted stopping and looking down at her. "Just. Stop." At the outburst, everything had stopped, and everyone including Hiccup went silent. "Every time you step outside disaster follows. Can you not see I have bigger problems? Winter's almost here and I have an entire village to feed!"

Feeling the pressure of everyone's eyes on her she tried to lighten the mood with her usual snarky comment. "Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding don't ya think? Heh, heh..."

"This isn't a joke Hiccup!" Oh, that did more harm than good it would seem. Her dad was mad; really mad. '_Hello cold cage, bye bye sweet comfortable bed.'_

"Why can't you follow the simplest of orders?" her dad continued.

"I-I can't stop myself", Hiccup defended. "I see a dragon and I just have to…_ kill_ it. You know? It's who I am dad", she shrugged straining a smile.

Her father answered her, clearly tired and stressed, "Oh you are many things Hiccup, but a dragon killer isn't one of them." She should have known that excuse wouldn't have cut it. The conversation was clearly over, so she didn't even try responding. "Get back to the house. Make sure she gets there", he added referring to Gobber, "I have her mess to clean up."

_'Oh please yes, blame it all on Hiccup. It's not like the dragons did any destruction. Nope, it was all the freakish runt you've given up on's fault'_, she thought quite bitterly as she was led away.

As Gobber walked her back home, her head down, she walked past the group of teens from before. Of course Snotlout and the twins had to say something; they always teased and made fun of her, sometimes even attempting to get physical. To 'toughen her up', they say. It was a good thing she was fast.

"Quite the performance", Tuffnut joked.

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped!" Snotlout added too.

"Thank you, thank you. I was trying so…" she sarcastically replied. Hiccup knew she probably shouldn't have said anything, but she couldn't help it. Her sarcasm was really her only weapon; well, her only weapon she would, or could, use anyway. As usual, Fishlegs, Astrid, and Aric, said nothing; the first two not even looking at her. Aric did, but she wasn't sure if that was good or not. She didn't quite catch the look on his face.

The walk home was a quiet one; neither Hiccup nor Gobber spoke a word the whole trip. Once they were on the hill the house laid on, though, out of range of listening ears, Hiccup spoke. "I really did hit one", she muttered back to him.

"Sure you did", Gobber responded.

"He never listens."

"Well, it runs in the family."

"And when he does, it's always with this… disappointed scowl, like someone skimped the meat on his sandwich", she said stopping on the porch. She continued her rant with an impression of her father, deepening her voice as best she could, having such a ridiculously high pitch, and adorned a Scottish accent as well.

"Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. Oh, and I'm also pretty sure it's supposed to be HUMAN!" she screamed to the sky wavering off from her imitation.

"No, you're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like. It's what's inside that he can't stand", Gobber, with all his wisdom, said trying to console her.

Hiccup merely looked at him with a dead panned stare. "Thank you, for summing that up." She turned to go inside, but what Gobber said next made her freeze.

"Look, the point is you're trying too hard. Maybe it's time to stop trying to be someone you're not."

Hiccup's face fell. Recently Gobber had been trying to convince her that she was the way she was for a reason, and that she was meant to use her 'gifts' instead of hiding them away. He still believed in what her dad had long ago lost faith in, and she knew he didn't like her attempts at trying to be like everyone else when it only made everything worse. But that's exactly what Hiccup wanted. And what he wanted her to try, she could never do.

"I just want to be one of you guys", she said desperately, and went inside leaving her mentor. She didn't want to talk about this anymore.

After she closed the door, she paused for a moment and simply leaned on the wooden barrier exasperated, and sighed. Her wings twitched and ached, so she took her cloak off for a moment to stretch them a little. It hurt to keep them so tightly pressed to her body for very long periods of time. She wished she didn't have to even worry about them. She wished she could just ignore the black menaces and pretend they didn't exist. She wished they didn't even exist at all. But they did, and she hated them.

She put the cloak back on, pulling the hood up to hide every inch of her stupid scales, and her mind wandered to another black menace. She had to find that dragon, and if it wasn't already dead she'd finish it herself. This was her chance to prove herself to everyone. She grabbed her notebook and rushed outside. This was it. Her time to shine. She was no dragon. She was a Viking through and through.


	3. The Downed Dragon

_**The Downed Dragon:**_

Everything hurt for the Night Fury tangled up in the forest. He couldn't move; and even when he attempted it hurt, especially at his tail. Whatever happened there couldn't have been good. He didn't know who shot him down, but he couldn't believe someone had actually done it. He was the fastest most elusive dragon there ever was, and some pesky human actually managed to tangle him up in their human vines. He was the night's ruler. How could some human defy his rule?

It was day now, and his squadron was long gone. He succeeded in his mission to protect and lead them―he was sure they got a sufficient amount of food for the Queen―but at the same time he failed. He felt like a failure, and now he would die out here in the forest alone and in shame. It was better than the fate he could get facing the Queen he supposed, but at least there would be others around. Here he was all alone. But he supposed it was fitting.

Live alone; die alone.

* * *

After the raid, Stoick had called a meeting for the whole tribe to attend. They needed to go on another mission for the nest. He had hoped by now Hiccup would have shown at least promise of helping them to achieve the goal he had set for her, but it seemed he had been wrong. She seemed to cause more trouble then helped, and at the rate she was going, it looked as if she would never fulfill the deal he had made for her eight years ago. Either way, these raids needed to end; they couldn't go on like this.

"Either we finish them or they'll finish us!" he exclaimed to his people. "It's the only way we'll be rid of them! If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home." He stabbed the spot on the map where dragons had been drawn as if to emphasize his point. "One more search before the ice sets in."

"Those ships never come back", a Viking in the crowd pointed out.

Stoick didn't care though, determined to end the war. "We're Vikings, it's an occupational hazard", he said. "Now who's with me?" The room was completely silent, save for a few stray comments. No one wanted to go on another 'pointless suicide mission' as he often heard them say when they weren't aware.

"Alright, those who stay will look after Hiccup", he said now, and as he expected everyone's hands shot up. "That's more like it", he said dryly. It was of course an empty threat; he would never allow anyone but Gobber, or Gothi if the blacksmith was too busy, look after his daughter for fear they would find out about her secret before it was time. It was hard for Stoick to think—_to know_—his child was hated across the village, but he had done all he could. There was just something wrong with the girl that he couldn't break through, and he was sure he knew what it was; he only wished he could eradicate it. It didn't help either that his daughter was practically a walking talking fishbone, barely able to lift up a sword. Gobber told him often of her progress in the forge; he told him that she was brilliant, always a fast learner and using his teachings to build her own contraptions, even if they were convoluted and strange often causing more trouble than good, but no matter how much she worked with the heavy metal she just wasn't getting any stronger. Stoick could only hope that she just needed a little more time.

The meeting concluded, his people left the hall leaving both Stoick and Gobber alone. "I'll go pack my undies", said the blacksmith sitting at a table with his mug-hand, but Stoick had other plans.

"No, I need you to stay, and train some new recruits."

"Oh, perfect, and while I'm busy Hiccup can cover the stall. Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to herself; what could possibly go wrong?" his friend said. And he was right. Hiccup would likely get some crazy idea into her head, if it wasn't there already, try to craft it, and end up either hurting herself or someone else. It was a constant pattern.

Stoick sighed. "What am I going to do with her Gobber?"

"Put her in training with the others", he responded as if obvious.

"No, I'm serious."

"So am I. Stoick, if you ever want her to fight dragons, she's gonna have to learn eventually."

"She's not ready. Something could… snap within her. If she's not been killed already."

"Oh, you don't know that", Gobber dismissed.

"Well, I'm not taking that chance. I already lost Valka; I'm not losing Hiccup too."

"But you never know until you try", Gobber insisted.

"I said no, Gobber."

"And I'm saying you gotta give the lass a chance. At this rate your gonna end up pushing her away, Stoick. What happened to that ultimate dragon soldier you always talked about? What happened to all you hoped for her? Hmm?"

"That was before..." Stoick sighed. "…You know what she's like. First it was flying, then it was those strange cravings… and _then_ it was trying to track me by my _scent_! And even now she still can't control those eyes of hers", he ranted as he paced around. It was always something with her, and even now he wasn't sure if she'd totally expelled all those desires.

"You know she can't help it."

"Yes I know that Gobber. But…ugh! The girl doesn't listen; she has the attention span of a sparrow… I take her out fishing and she goes hunting…for trolls!"

"Trolls exist! They steal your socks, but only the left ones. What's with that?"

Stoick simply rolled his eyes. Now he knew where his daughter got the idea from.

"Look, all I'm saying, Stoick, is that if you never give her the chance, she'll never be able to achieve", Gobber then said as Stoick sat down next to him. "You'd be surprised what that lass can do when you give her the chance to do it."

Stoick didn't respond, instead thinking on what his friend just said. Gobber might have had a point, he realized. Maybe he was going about this all wrong. Maybe Gobber was right and he was being too protective; he was just so worried for her. But he never really gave Hiccup the chance to prove that she was ready. And it wasn't like he spent much time with her like Gobber did; he just didn't have the time. Maybe he knew a way to bring out the woman he always thought Hiccup could be, and maybe by letting him teach her, perhaps he'd find himself coming home to a different Hiccup. One truly worthy of being Berk's future Chieftess.

"Alright", he conceded. "But I want her back in one piece. All limbs intact."

"Ah, even the tail?" Gobber joked.

"Yes", Stoick said sternly. It wasn't a very good joke.

* * *

Hiccup had searched the forest for what felt like hours, and so far she found about as much as the luck she possessed. Nothing. She was marking yet another place that had no Night Fury in her notebook, and she was getting increasingly frustrated. As if the gods just wanted to ruin her day more, her cloak then got caught by a root sticking up from the ground; the end of her cloak was left with a gash, and her hood slipped off, revealing her ears and short cut auburn hair. It was an unconventional hair style, with her hair that stopped at her collar bone, running free, but it was just more comfortable with her ears being in the way. Not to mention wearing a cloak almost 24/7. Trying to make a braid would just be a pain, and leaving long hair down would never do, so she just kept it short. Besides, when was the last time Hiccup ever did something conventional?

Luckily, she was out in the forest, the one place it seemed she could get any sort of refuge, so Hiccup didn't fear anyone saw. She just pulled her hood back up covering her ears again. It blocked out the range of her hearing a little bit, but Hiccup preferred that. It made her feel just a little bit more normal. The gash in her cape would need to be sown back up, her tail poking out, but that was an easy fix she could do quickly when she got back.

She decided to keep wandering around for now though. "Oh, the gods hate me", she griped. "First, they bless me with this curse, then they make me a weak little stick, and now I can't even find a wounded dragon?! Yep, some people lose their mug or their knife…no, not me. Instead I manage to lose an _entire dragon_!" In her frustration she slapped a low hanging branch that was in her way, only for it to swing back at her, slapping her back in the face.

"Ow!" she yelped, and then looked up at the tree to see it split in two. One half was still up right, while the other led down into a trench that seemed to have been freshly made.

**000**

"…no, not me. Instead I manage to lose an _entire dragon_!" the Night Fury heard a human female shout. She sounded frustrated with that fact. Then a thought occurred to him. What dragon did she lose? Was this the human that captured him? He sniffed the air finding her scent; the girl must have been close by. What he found odd about it, though, was it wasn't like other human scents. There was something else about it. Something that he couldn't pin point, but almost seemed familiar. If only it wasn't being covered by those other human scents. Maybe once she got closer he'd be able to tell. Humans liked to savor their kills, especially when at their complete and utter mercy; he'd have the time.

He heard a gasp, and then some shuffling. She was close. Very close.

000

A gasp had escaped Hiccup when she looked out over the lip of the deep trench. She ducked down in fear of the black beast seeing her, but when nothing happened, she poked her head up again to take a better look. It was a large black dragon just laying there on its side, and she looked at it with wide eyes. Did she actually do it? Was this the Night Fury?

Quickly, Hiccup got out her dagger from her belt preparing herself to go down there and face the beast. She slid down the hill to a boulder hiding behind it and panting scared; she didn't think this would be so frightening when she left the house. As she made her way around the bolder to finally get a good look, that's when she saw it was completely downed, the ropes of the bola tangled tightly around it, and Hiccup's eyes widened again with amazement. It was either already dead or unconscious; she couldn't tell which, but either way she had actually done it.

"Oh, I did it", she breathed still unable to believe it. "I actually did it! Yes!" she jumped around excited.

**000**

"I have brought down this mighty bea―ah!" the girl cried when he shoved her foot off his shoulder. So typical of humans to boast and brag about a deed that wasn't yet even done. He peaked his eye open to look at the scared girl. She was leaning against a boulder startled and frightened. She wore a black sheet over her form, so he couldn't see much of what she looked like, but he could see that she was small. A very tiny human compared to all the others he'd seen. How this tiny girl had managed to capture him was beyond his comprehension. For such a small human to beat him, a Night Fury, the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, just piled on more shame to the Night Fury. Either she was very skilled, or he was very incompetent. If it was the latter, then he deserved to die.

The girl gathered her wits and came closer to him again, her 'dagger', as they called them, out as if he could attack her at any moment.

000

Hiccup stopped at the dragon's side, and when she looked down at its face, she saw it staring up at her with a look only a monster could give, acid green glaring into her soul. Positioning her dagger, she got ready to strike.

"I'm gonna kill you, dragon", she said trying to sound threatening. "I'm gonna…cut out your heart, and bring it to my father. I'm a Viking", she whispered. "I'm a Viking!" Hiccup again shouted at the dragon, repeating the words she spoke before, although honestly she wasn't sure if she was actually yelling at the dragon or herself. She positioned the dagger, ready to strike, but when she looked down at the demon's eyes once more, she wavered; she hadn't expected to see what she had in those green irises. She found herself frozen in hesitation, looking at the dragon with uncertainty. There was something about those green eyes that spoke so much. Like there was something more there than just a mindless beast.

Hiccup shook her head. No. She had to do this. She was doing her people a service by killing the black menace. She raised her dagger up higher trying with all her might to strike but no matter how much she tried, she just couldn't bring herself to bring the dagger down. It was just a dragon. A blood thirsty savage monster; it shouldn't have been so hard. But, no matter how much she tried convincing herself, no matter how much she tried shaking these strange new thoughts and feelings away, her arms wouldn't budge.

Finally, Hiccup resigned and gave up. She couldn't do it. She brought her dagger back down to her side and looked down at the creature again. It looked so ready to die, knowing its life was over. It was like truly seeing it for the first time. She shook her head.

"I did this." she muttered stepping back in mild regret seeing what she had truly done. She was about to go home, but just as she turned her back, she found herself stopping again.

**000**

The Night Fury thought he'd be dead by now, but as he laid there with his eyes closed ready for the killing blow from the strange scented human, he found himself waiting an awful long time. Just what was this girl waiting for? He was at her complete and utter mercy; all she had to do was bring her weapon down. It shouldn't have been so hard. Just what was keeping her from giving him his fated death?

Then that's when he heard it; a new sound like scraping claws. He felt his bonds loosen, his limbs being freed, and he still sensed that the girl was beside him. With one swift motion, as soon as the last vine was torn, the Night Fury pounced and pinned the girl to the ground before a boulder. He stared her down, the girl's heart racing with fear. Now it was his turn; now she was at his complete mercy. But still, something wasn't right. That scent; those eyes. There was something about them. When he looked into her wide scared eyes again, he noticed something he hadn't before. They were slit like a dragon's. The Night Fury reared back a bit, then he noticed something peaking from her cover on the ground beside her. A tail; a black tail just like his. His eyes traveled back to her face, and as he continued to stare at her, her eyes began to dilate, fear turning into curiosity. It was all so confusing; it didn't make sense. Humans didn't have scales or tails; their pupils couldn't slit, and that scent of hers was still driving him crazy. It was so familiar, yet still so out of reach. Out of complete, pure, and utter frustration he roared in the strange girl's face, and then pounced and ran off leaving her there.

The Night Fury leaped up into a flight then, just wanting to go home and rest for a bit. Hopefully the Queen wouldn't be too mad at him. And even if she was, then maybe he'd still be granted to live. After all, he was the only Night Fury in the nest; her most valuable subject.

Just as he got into the air though, attempting to climb up into the sky, something suddenly felt off. He found himself becoming unbalanced leaning heavily towards the left side, and when he tried moving his tail fins to right himself, he found he couldn't feel his left fin. He fell, crashing down into some kind of cove, and when he sat up and laid his tail in front of him to see, the Night Fury's heart stopped. His left tail fin was gone. Completely torn off and still bleeding too. He shot out a stream of his purple fire at it to stop the bleeding before licking it a couple times, but even if it would heal, he'd never be able to fly again. He was stuck on this island, and now stuck in this rock walled prison he'd put himself in. The Night Fury let out an anguished roar. That weird female human-dragon creature thing may have spared his life, but now she had condemned him to a death worse than any she could have ever given him. Why couldn't she just have stabbed him when she had the chance?

* * *

It was dark out now as Hiccup walked home. She supposed that was good cause people would be less likely to see her exposed tail, but her dad was probably wondering where she was. That is if he was even home; sometimes, more often than not, her dad wouldn't come home till later in the night. If he was home, though, hopefully he'd think she was just in the forge late again engrossed in another project. After that Night Fury had blown out her ears roaring in her face the way it did, she had been so stunned, frightened, and out of breathe, that as soon as she attempted to take a single step she'd fainted.

As Hiccup approached the front door to her home, she stopped wondering what she was gonna say. How was she going to tell her father that she couldn't kill dragons? It kinda made sense seeing as how she was technically part of their species, but she wasn't supposed to be. Hiccup was supposed to beat back that side of her, not embrace it. The only problem was it didn't feel like a monster was seeping through the cracks of her mind controlling her actions. She felt something when she looked in that dragon's eyes, but what that something was she couldn't figure out. She didn't know what she would tell her father, but she was tired, and confused, so maybe she could just lie by omission; all she had to say was that she didn't want to fight dragons anymore. That she's given up on being a dragon fighting warrior, because she's too small and weak, and that would never change. Her father would believe that; it's not like that wasn't what he already thought of her anyway.

He probably had already given up on her ever achieving her end of the deal. Eight years ago, before she started hating herself, Hiccup asked yet again why she had to always wear her cloak whenever she went outside. His answer was the one he always gave.

"_Because dear, people won't understand your dragon half and will only fear it. You have to hide this from the village, or I might be forced to send you away. Do you understand?" As usual Hiccup only nodded sadly. That's when her father made his proposal. "Tell you what. If you can prove to this village that you can be a real Viking and prove you will protect them as a chief should, then we can reveal to them what you've been hiding. Only then can we try to make them understand you're on our side. But until that day comes, you must make sure no one finds out about your dragon half, and keep these parts of yours hidden."_

She of course agreed to it at the time, but lately, she wasn't sure that even if she managed to bring up her end, she would be able to stop wearing her cloak and reveal herself. Her cloak and long sleeved green dress not only hid her scales from the villagers, but herself as well.

Sighing, and praying he wasn't home yet and could just slip upstairs, Hiccup opened the door, and stepping inside she noticed her dad was not only home, but at the fire pit just in front of her too. Hiccup tried to sneak past him, his back turned, but he must have heard her trying to speed crawl up the stairs.

"Hiccup", he muttered suddenly. She paused silently cringing and cursing at herself before answered him. "Dad. I uh… I have to talk to you dad", she simply confessed stepping down. She might as well just get it over with.

"I need to speak to you too, hun", her father replied standing up from his chair and facing her.

"I've decided I don't want to fight dragons" "I think it's time you learn to fight dragons", they both said at the same time.

" "What?" "

"You go first", her father offered, but Hiccup was too afraid of what her dad was going to say.

"No, you go first", she said.

"Alright. You get your wish; dragon training. You start in the morning."

"Oh man, I should have gone first…" Hiccup started quickly, her hands frantically gesturing. "…Uh, 'cause I was thinking, you know, we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings. But do we have enough bread making Vikings, or small home—"

Her father was clearly not listening handing her a large ax against her will. "You'll need this", he plopped the heavy weapon into her arms.

"I don't want to fight dragons", she tried again.

"Oh, come on, yes you do", her father dismissed.

"Rephrase. Dad, I _can't _kill dragons!"

"But you will fight dragons."

"No I'm really very extra sure that I won't", the girl scrambled. She wasn't sure how to make him understand. Her father thought she was ready, but after the day she just had she was clearly quite the opposite.

"It's time Hiccup", her father stressed.

"Can you not hear me?!"

"This is serious dear! When you carry this ax, you carry all of us with you", he said in a soft voice, which then became stern once again. "Which means you _walk _like us", he tried straitening her stance, "you _talk_ like us, you _think_ like us. No more of…this."

"You just gestured to all of me", Hiccup dead panned.

Her dad merely ignored her. "Deal?"

"This conversation is feeling very one sided." _'Like all our conversations __lately__.'_

"Deal?!"

Hiccup sighed. "Deal."

"Good. Train hard; I'll be back. Probably", her dad said thrusting a basket over his shoulder, taking his helmet, and walking out the door.

"And I'll be here. Maybe." With her ax she followed her father out to see him off, he and many others about to make another dangerous journey into Helhiem's Gate. All the while, though, Hiccup wondered just what she was going to do now.


	4. Unexpected Visitor

**The first half of this chapter is based on a deleted scene from the movie that was scrapped pretty early in production. I wish at least the concept of it had been kept in, but unfortunately, no. So, I put it in here. Most, if not all, the dialogue's changed but the concept's still the same. ****Something that was lacking in the movie was clarity on Astrid's feelings towards Hiccup before Dragon Training, so I wanted to do the opposite thing for Aric, and make it clearer.**

**Oh, and before we start, I have a question. I've been seeing this tag floating around on Archive of Our Own where it says THWIsNotCanon, but it doesn't make sense to me 'cause it is cannon. It's the ending to the trilogy directed and written by Dean Deblois just like the previous two. It's clearly cannon. Is this like the #NotMyPresident thing from 2016? I have some ideas of what it could be, but I just want clarification before I go on some pointless rant about The Hidden World and why it doesn't deserve all the hate that it does (It honestly reminds me of the Hiccstrid debacle when people were hating on Astrid). I know you like to show don't tell Deblois, but sometimes clarity through speech is important. Visuals can be easily missed and miss interpreted. Enjoy the chapter guys, and I hope someone can answer this for me.**

* * *

_**Unexpected Visitor:**_

The following morning, Hiccup's cloak was all fixed up and she met with Gobber at the forge. There was still a lot of work to do, Berk needing more weapons after the raid yesterday, and they had a few hours of day light to burn before Dragon Training started.

"Hey there, my newest recruit", Gobber greeted when she entered. "Trust you're in a good mood today?"

Hiccup wasn't smiling, though. "I should've known it was you", she said as she put her apron and gloves on. She should have figured her dad would have never decided to put her in training on his own.

"The one and only", Gobber replied proudly.

"Just, why...exactly did you get my dad to put me in?" Hiccup asked as she stoked the fire to melt some iron for a new sword.

"Well it's what you wanted wasn't it?" Gobber said giving Hiccup the smelting pot of iron for her to place over the fire to melt while he got the cast ready.

"Well, I mean yeah, but, you know I was just thinking…and…I don't really think I'm cut out for dragon fighting."

"Having second thoughts, eh? Ah, don't worry, Hiccup. It's just first day jitters. You'll do fine."

The iron melted, Hiccup got out some tongs, grabbed the pot, and brought it over to the cast Gobber had prepared pouring the hot molten metal into it. "Heh, I wish I could be that sure." If she couldn't kill a downed dragon tied up, or even walk away to just let it die by starvation and dehydration, then how in Thor's name was she gonna be fine in a class dedicated to fighting and killing them?

Gobber took the cast and carried it to a table as she dumped the hot tools into a bucket of water to cool. "So, how'd the talk go last night anyway?" he then asked.

"Oh you know, the usual", Hiccup said grabbing a new set of tongs for Gobber to grab the molding sword out from the cast he split in half. "One sided, uncomfortable, and speaking of uncomfortable I'd like a new conversation please."

"Alright", Gobber shrugged before hammering the sword into shape, Hiccup turning it with each hit. "How's it going with you and Aric?"

Hiccup stopped turning the sword. "Oh yeah, way to get the mood back on track", she sarcastically commented.

"Oh come on, I've seen the way he looks at ya."

"Please", Hiccup rolled her eyes before crossing her arms. "Aric wouldn't come near me if he was on fire and I had the only bucket of water in town." Then that's when it hit her. "Wait", she said with her eyes popping wide open. "What kind of looks are we talking?"

"Hey", a male voice then called, and they turned to see it was none other than the boy they were talking about. "Can I get this sharpened?" he asked.

"Aric!" Hiccup exclaimed. "Oh, uh, hi, Aric, hi, what can I, uh, do―"

Aric threw his ax into a stump irrupting Hiccup's stuttering.

"Ah, of course, lad", Gobber said cheerfully. "My _lovely_ apprentice here", he shoved Hiccup forward, "will service all of your needs. I…have to…go…get…some…uh…"

Hiccup stared at him with an unamused expression matched by Aric's which was also slightly confused.

"...I-I'll just go", Gobber left, and that meant now it was just her and Aric. Alone. Together.

"Ah-ha", Hiccup lightly laughed. "Gobber." She reached for the ax stuck in the stump, but then Aric swiftly pulled it out himself before giving it to her. When Hiccup was given the ax, however, her weak arms couldn't lift it and the ax went down, her noodle arms nearly pulling her down with it. "Okay", she said trying to play it cool. "Razor sharp battle ax. Coming right up." She began to drag it to the grinding stone unable to lift it from the ground and carry it there.

"Ah, careful with that", Aric told her. "It's my mother's."

"So, uh, saw you guys on fire patrol yesterday. Looked like a good time", Hiccup tried starting up a conversation. Usually it didn't work, Aric only responding in short answers, but that was always when the other teens were present. This time they were alone. And maybe, just maybe, if what Gobber said was true that is, Aric would be more open to talking to her now that there were no judgmental eyes watching.

"Yeah, I guess", he said. "We couldn't save that family's home, though", he then told her matter of factly making Hiccup look over surprised near the grinding stone. It was the first actual sentence he'd ever said to her. A smile began to spread, but she tried to keep control of it.

"Oh, yeah", she said back before turning the wheel to start sharpening his ax. "Well, at least the family's safe. That's the most important thing. The house can always be rebuilt." She lifted up the ax with a grunt beginning to sharpen it.

"Yeah", Aric said with a small smile peaking through his serious stone cold expression as he leaned on a table in front of where some tools hung. "So, I heard you were starting Dragon Training with us."

Startled, Hiccup jolted, jolting the ax as well, and the grinding stone tore through the ax head. She pulled the ax away and stopped the stone as fast as she could, but it was too late. The ax head was broken with a noticeable break down the edge. She covered the break with her hand looking over to Aric. He didn't seem to notice, his head looking away at all the tools behind him observing the workspace he was in.

"Ah… yeah, uh, how…did you know that?" she asked, discreetly putting the broken ax down and out of sight.

Aric didn't look over, his back turned to her as he wandered around a bit. "About half the village knows about it." He made it to a room blocked by a curtain, and as he was about to pull it Hiccup startled again quickly standing up.

"Oh no, you're not actually supposed to―!"

Too late. He pulled the curtain revealing a back work room. Her work room.

"What is all this?" he asked seeing the rather messy space littered with unfinished blue prints either pinned to the walls or left on her desk.

"Um…" Hiccup hurried over, Aric already inside looking at some sketches and blue prints that hung on a wall. "Oh, uh, those? Just some stuff I'm working on. Just, uh…" Remembering his broken ax, she quickly moved to get a spare head. "…confidential…upper level development…" she stumbled over her words as he continued to wondrously look through her stuff. "I-I can't really talk about it, so…"

"The Mutilator", he said seeming puzzled over it, likely looking at some old blue prints.

"Oh, uh, yeah, that…"

"What is it?" Aric then asked surprising Hiccup. He was actually interested?

"Oh, uh, basically it uses twin weighted counter levers to launch crisscrossing blades in four different directions", Hiccup answered as she locked the ax head in place so she could get his handle and attach it.

"How do you hold it?"

"Well you don't", she replied twisting the ax handle into place. "You shoot it."

"Oh. Eh", she heard paper fly. He must have tossed it away. "I'm more of an old fashioned take it down with an ax and lop it's head off kind of guy. It's kind of the Viking way, you know?"

"Go Vikings."

"Gods, I can't wait to get started already", Aric then came out of the work room. Thank the gods she finished in time. "We finally get the chance to show 'em what we've got", he walked passed her. "I'm so excited. I could barely sleep last night."

"Ye-yeah…" Hiccup responded turning around trying to sound excited too but failing. Aric didn't seem to notice. "I am…so…excited too…"

Aric turned his head around towards her giving her a look that he knew something wasn't right. Oh, he knew she was lying. But, instead of telling her that, he asked her something else.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" he started completely facing her now.

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

"Why is it like you're always hiding from us?" he asked, his arms crossing.

"Well…it's not like I'm exactly welcome, so…" she shrugged looking down and away.

Aric opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but suddenly they were interrupted.

"Hey Aric!" Astrid shouted, all the other teens with her too. "You coming to practice with us or not?!"

"Or would you rather talk with your girlfriend, Useless, over there?!" Snotlout shouted. Hiccup's eyes narrowed in both anger and embarrassment looking away again with her cheeks turning red.

She didn't miss when Astrid slapped him upside the head, though.

"Ow! What?" Snotlout complained.

"She's not my girlfriend, Snotlout!" Aric shouted angry. He turned back to her, though, with a calmer expression. "I better go."

"'Course."

Aric waited a bit before cocking one eyebrow up holding his hand out.

_'That's right! The ax.'_

She picked it up and he took it from her feeling it, throwing it from one hand to the other.

"This feels different", he questioned.

"Oh! Uh, I rebalanced it, tightened it up, uh…finessed it. We're a full service outfit here."

"Huh. Cool." He turned around jogging out, but before joining his sister and their friends he suddenly stopped turning his head back to her. "Oh, and thanks", he said, and Hiccup looked up to him in surprise once again. No one ever thanked her. No one. He then ran off with everyone else, and she looked out after him stunned.

"You're welcome."

* * *

Aric's ax hit the target on the tree with precision, the blade buried deep.

"So, what were you doing with Hiccup anyway?" Astrid asked as they all were casually practicing.

"Getting my ax sharpened. Like I told you?" Aric answered. He was a little miffed she interrupted his and Hiccup's conversation like she did. He had wanted to tell Hiccup that she was welcome to come train with him; that with some practice and a little focus she could get her reputation up, but he didn't get that chance. Everyone showed up and he had to leave for fear of his and his family's reputation. Hiccup was seen as nothing but a nuisance that was better off dead across the majority of the village, and anyone who so much as associated with her risked ridicule from kids and adults alike; Gobber and Stoick were the only exception, people feeling bad that they were just stuck with her. Some people were upset she was joining Dragon Training, while others just said 'good riddance' as if expecting she'd die. And Snotlout? He always took it a step further with Hiccup, insulting and actively trying to humiliate her every chance he got. Aric didn't understand it. He was her cousin, yet Snotlout treated her worse than dirt; he and his father, Spitelout, were the worst out of anyone in the village.

"But why would you get it sharpened by Useless? She'd obviously just break it", Snotlout said.

"Does this look broken to you?" he showed his ax. "And would you quit calling her that? She's our future chief. That hardly make her useless."

"Eh, he's got a point", Fishlegs backed him up. He and Astrid always did in these kinds of conversations. They just didn't think it was really fair.

"It does when Stoick finally throws that cry baby away and makes me his new heir. Just think. Snotlout Jorgenson; Chief of Berk. Has a nice ring to it. Don't you think, Astrid?" he asked flirtatiously towards his sister.

Astrid just rolled her eyes in response groaning, while Aric continued to practice his ax throwing. There was no point in arguing in circles with Snotlout.

Some days, Aric felt genuinely bad for Hiccup; even the smallest of mistakes set people off on her, and that wasn't right. But other times, Aric felt she only brought it upon herself. Hiccup was unfocused, undisciplined; she just did whatever she wanted with no real foresight, and as a result, it blew up in her face. And she was always hiding; always keeping to herself, telling lies she was never good at telling, and generally creating a world where she was all alone and no one could really know who she was. He thought back to what she said about not feeling welcome, but even when they were kids and open to her joining in their roughhousing, save Snotlout that is, she never accepted. She would always rather draw in her sketch book or go explore the forest. It was always like she was afraid to play with them. As far as he was concerned, she was the one who outcast herself. Not them.

"Aric", he heard Astrid call his name. "Hey, you okay?" she put her hand on his shoulder. "You got really quiet all of a sudden."

"Huh", he shook himself from his thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"He just doesn't like that I'm insulting his girlfriend", Snotlout teased again.

"For the last time, Snotlout, she not my girlfriend", he turned to face him. "Just because I don't think she should be shipped out to sea, doesn't mean I like her. For Thor's sake, I barely even know her!"

"Oh, so its not that you like the stupid mysterious girl shtick?"

"I do", Tuffnut jumped in.

"Yeah, she's like a ninja", Ruffnut followed.

"You know, if ninja's exploded stuff."

"That'd be awesome", Ruffnut said before the two high-fived snickering.

"It's not a shtick", Aric said. "I don't know why she wears that thing all the time, but she's not doing it for some gimmick." He was sure something else was going on. What, he wasn't sure, but she wasn't doing it for some shtick. He had to admit, however, that it did add a sort of mystery to her. Just what did she look like without it? Why had no one ever seen her without it? The only thing they ever really saw was her face, her eyes being the thing to stand out most. They were this bright forest green almost like emeralds that he sometimes couldn't help but be intrigued by. There was something more to her, he just knew it, but she never let anyone in, the surface a mask of whatever lied beneath. He wasn't sure why she interested him so much, but there was just something about her that seemed to pull at him. Hopefully Dragon Training would give him the opportunity to really see what she was made of. Was she really just this stumbling fool, or was there more than met the eye? So far he'd seen she was creative and a bit disorganized, but that didn't exactly add much to what he'd already guessed from her lack of focus and failed inventions.

"Whatever", Snotlout scoffed in response to his rebuttal, and Aric just rolled his eyes. Typical.

* * *

Gone back to the house for her ax, Hiccup arrived to the arena last and saw as everyone was already there, Gobber about to open the gate.

"Welcome to Dragon Training", he said letting everyone in, and Hiccup ran to catch up walking in just behind all the other teens.

"No turning back", she heard Aric mutter to himself as he entered. He was really taking this thing seriously; much more than the others.

"I'm hoping for some serious burns", Tuffnut said commented.

"I'm hoping for some mauling", his sister rebutted. "Like on my shoulder or lower back."

Hiccup cringed at her words almost able to feel the pain that would cause.

"Yeah", Astrid added in. "It's really only fun if you get a scar out of it."

"Yeah, no kidding, right?" Hiccup couldn't help but put in her two sense. "Pain. Love it", she said sarcastically.

"Oh, great. Who let her in?" Tuffnut griped.

"Let's get started!" Gobber intervened. "As you know, the recruit who does best will win the honor of_ killing_", Hiccup flinched, "his first dragon in front of the entire village."

"Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify her, or…?" Snotlout jabbed, and the twins both laughed along at her.

"Can I join the class with the cool Vikings?" Tuffnut even said.

Hiccup was used to it, so she expected this. No, what Hiccup was worried about wasn't Snotlout and the twins as much as whether or not she'd survive her first lesson. She knew very well how Gobber liked to teach; why would this be any different?

She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, and she knew it was Gobber. "Don't worry", he said. "You're small, weak, plus half their kind. That'll make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane and go for the more Viking like teens instead."

_'Gee, thanks'_, Hiccup thought, but quickly brushed it off. She knew Gobber meant no ill intent.

Lightly shoving her next to Fishlegs where all the teens were lined up facing the dragon cages, Gobber began the lesson.

"Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight. The Deadly Nadder", Gobber began listing, all the while the dragons roaring, growling, chirping, and grumbling. She swore it was like they were saying something, but she couldn't make out what. She quickly decided it didn't matter, though. Why should she care if a dragon was actually saying something? They were just some dumb, vicious, demonic creatures spawned from Helheim. Her thoughts were then interrupted by Fishlegs' muttering, the volume ever steadily increasing.

"The Monstrous Nightmare."

"Fire power fifteen", he kept speaking after Gobber.

"The Terrible Terror."

"Attack eight; venom twelve!"

"CAN YOU STOP THAT!" Gobber yelled. "And… the Gronckle", he finished placing his hand on the lever beside the cage.

"Jaw strength eight", Fishlegs whispered towards Hiccup.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait!" Snotlout then exclaimed. "Aren't you gonna teach us first?!

_'I believe on learning on the job'_ "I believe on learning on the job", Gobber expectantly said. He pushed down the lever and as soon as the log locking the cage was lifted, a Gronckle burst through the door, everyone scattering out of the way. "Today is about survival. You get blasted, you're dead." The Gronckle ate the rocks on the far side of the arena armoring itself to shoot. "Quick! What's the first thing you're going to need?!"

"A doctor?" Hiccup guessed.

"Plus five speed?" Fishlegs said next.

"A shield", Aric answered firmly.

"Shield! Go!" Gobber ordered, and everyone ran for the shields. "The most important piece of equipment is your shield. If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield."

One hand full with a heavy ax, Hiccup was having trouble trying to grab a heavy shield as well. Seeing this, Gobber helped her picking it up and thrusting it onto her before shoving her back in.

"Get your hands off my shield!" Hiccup's attention was brought to the twins fighting over a single shield in the middle of a pile of them.

"There's like a million shields!" Ruffnut shouted back at her brother.

"Take that one; it has a flower on it. Girls like flowers. AH!" Tuffnut exclaimed as he was hit with the shield by Ruffnut.

"Oops. Now this one has blood on it."

In the end, the Gronckle fired hitting the shield between them. The shield was destroyed and the twins went down.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out!" Gobber shouted.

" "What?" "

"Those shields are good for another thing; noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim."

The teens all began banging their weapons against their shields in front of the Gronckle as they moved around, and as Hiccup did it too she worried it would affect her as well. She slightly cringed waiting for when her perception of sight would be muddled, but when nothing happened she sighed in relief. Whatever species her dragon half was from, it mustn't have had that weakness.

"All dragons have a limited number of shots! How many does a Gronckle have?!" Gobber asked.

"Five?!" Snotlout guessed.

"No, six!" Fishlegs interjected.

"Correct, six!" Gobber said. "That's one for each of ya!"

"I really don't―AHH!" Fishlegs yelled as he was blasted at, his shield blown away and destroyed.

"Fishlegs, out!"

"AHHHHHH!" Fishlegs ran away.

Meanwhile Hiccup opted to just stay out of the fight hiding behind a little wooden wall leaning against the wall of the arena.

"Okay", Hiccup said to herself. "The Gronckle has six shots. It just used two. All I have to do is survive until it runs out. Easy enough―AH!" Hiccup shouted folding in on herself when Fishlegs' shield was blasted into the wall of the arena right beside her.

"Hiccup, get in there!" Gobber shouted at her, but when Hiccup attempted to listen, the Gronckle shot another blast straight at her causing her to duck behind again, the blast hitting the wall instead. That was three down, three to go.

"So anyway", Hiccup then heard Snotlout's voice. Peaking out again, she could see he was talking to Astrid, and she didn't appear to be interested in anything he was saying trying to focus on the task at hand instead. "So I'm moving into my parents basement; you should come by some time to work out? You look like you work out." Astrid turned slightly looking like she was about to tell him to shut his trap when the Gronckle suddenly shot a lava blast at them hitting where their shields both slightly collided.

"Astrid, Snotlout, you're done!" Gobber stated, but Astrid wasn't very happy about that.

"Oh, come on!" she shouted in utter frustration.

With only two shots left, Hiccup decided it was probably time to get back in there, and as she came back into the Gronckle dodge match, she found Aric tumble to a stop right next to her. Now this was her chance to talk to him again.

"So, um, just you and me, huh?"

_'Really? That's all you can come up with?'_, Hiccup's mind screamed at herself.

"Nope. Just you", he said and then ran off. It confused Hiccup at first, but then she noticed the Gronckle charging at her.

"AH—" She didn't even have enough time to yell in frightened surprise before the dragon shot it's second to last shot at her. It luckily missed, hitting her shield instead, but the shield was also knocked out of her hand upon impact.

With the Gronckle still having one shot left, the dragon practically on her tail, Hiccup ran for her shield. The round object of protection kept rolling away from her, though, and in a moment of panic Hiccup found herself cornered by the Gronckle against the wall of the arena. She fell back, unable to get away.

"HICCUP!" she heard Gobber shout out. Hiccup closed her eyes like she did when she was sure the Night Fury was going to do the same as this dragon was, and when the blast was heard she instinctively curled in on herself, hands on her head, as if the position could protect her. After a lot of heavy breathing and trying to calm her racing heart, Hiccup then realized she once again wasn't dead. Opening her eyes she caught sight of Gobber wrangling the Gronckle to it's cage with his hook in it's mouth.

"And that's―six. Oh, go back to bed you over grown sausage", Gobber said tossing the Gronckle's back to it's cage and locking it back up. "You'll get another chance; don't you worry." He walked up to where she sat, still frazzled by what just happened. "Good job, Aric", he said. "But remember. A dragon will always. _Always_…" he turned to Hiccup on the ground specifically. "...go for the kill." Then he took her arm and yanked her back up onto her feet.

As everyone filed out, Hiccup looked at the scorch mark that was left just above where her head had been. If Gobber hadn't come when he did, she wouldn't have made it; she would have been dead on the spot. But, then that raised a question, for a similar situation happened just the day before, and yet, her heart was still beating. If dragons always went for the kill like Gobber said, then why did the Night Fury spare her?

Curiosity getting the better of her, Hiccup decided to go investigate; for what, she wasn't certain. The dragon was most likely long gone, but she went anyway. Maybe there'd be some kind of clue? She came upon the scene in which she and the dragon had showed mercy to each other. The fact that that had happened still boggled her mind, but she decided not to dwell on it too much. What happened happened; why just made everything confusing. Picking up one end of the bola the Night Fury was once tangled in, she looked at it with the same curiosity and confusion. "Why didn't you?" she asked to no one in particular.

Then Hiccup put the bola down and walked in the direction she saw the dragon fly in, and when she made it to an awfully familiar cove, a low hanging branch swiped her hood off once again just like yesterday. _'What is it with this forest wanting my cloak gone?'_ She didn't pull it back up this time, though, too transfixed on what she had just stumbled upon. She had just come to the beautiful cove she often escaped too when she was upset as a child, either from something her father said or did, or from the other kids bullying her, and at the entrance laid black scales no doubt from the Night Fury. She bent down to pick one up and study it; it felt and looked so much like her own scales, the only difference being that hers had a little more of a blue tint. She was knocked out of this strange discovery, however, when something black suddenly shot up near the entrance.

**000**

_**'****Come on, climb! Climb! CLIMB! **_**NO!" **All day Night Fury had been trying to get out of this stupid prison. After a quick nap he had spent since all of last night till now jumping and trying with all his might to climb out, but his tail just wouldn't allow him enough air to get up high enough. He tried beating his wings relentlessly, using his claws to dig into the rocks, jumping as high as he could to get a head start, a mixture of all three, but no matter how many times he tried, no matter what technique he used, nothing worked.

Gliding back down across to the other side of the lake Night Fury sulked for just a little bit feeling the weight of hopelessness. If he could just get out, then maybe he could make it. He knew he wouldn't be able to get off the island, but maybe he could make the cave of this cove his new home. Just until the next raid; when ever that was. Their patterns were unpredictable so that the humans couldn't know when they'd strike next. But, if he could make it till the next raid he could call for help and a nest mate could carry him off this island and to a safer one. He wouldn't be able to return home; a flightless dragon was of no use to the Queen, but maybe he could find another pack. And if no one would take him, he'd just have to live on his own. There was no telling how long he'd survive being flightless, but that didn't mean he was gonna give up. Night Furies weren't quitters. All he had to do was get out of here and get some food from the forest. This island had tons of boars in their forests, so he was sure they could spare a few. He'd only go to the village if truly desperate; he wasn't stupid. He'd been given this chance at life and he wasn't about to waste it. The girl from yesterday still confused and bothered his mind, but it didn't unfocus him from the task at hand.

**"One more try. You can do this"**, he said to himself, before turning around and running to a different wall. He jumped onto a log, then jumped again using that momentum to get more height. He flapped his wings, practically over the edge; just a little further and he could land on the higher ground free. But before he could reach it, he began to descend, his glide faltering, and when he tried going further it only made his decent worse crashing onto the ground for the hundredth time that day.

He tried again, and then again, and then again, but every time he always fell just short of escape. Finally out of frustration he let out a plasma blast onto the ground and gave up. It was no use. He was stuck here, and unless the next raid was very soon, or some kind, not selfish, dragon just foolishly happened to be passing by, he would surly starve.

000

Hiccup looked at the Night Fury in wonderment. She had gone down some of the rocks to where she could get a better look, and had taken her notebook out to sketch the dragon that was relentlessly climbing the walls of the cove as if trying and failing to get out. As she did this, however, she began to notice something strange. The dragon's features were familiar—too familiar. Only after she was finished did she realize why; the Night Fury's ears, tail, and wings were all identical to hers. Her eyes widened in realization. _'I'm half Night Fury. Well that explains why my dad never told me__'_, Hiccup thought. She could only imagine what her dad really thought about her; a weakling of a daughter who wasn't only part dragon, but also one of the worst and deadliest dragons in Viking history? Yeah, not something a parent would be happy about. No wonder he was always so hard on her; she surly would have been harder on herself had she known.

Looking back to the dragon, it seemed to be flying up the cove only for it to fall back down; it was like a pattern. "Why don't you just… fly away?" she silently asked.

Then that's when she realized something else; unlike her tail, the Night Fury only had one fin; she had two. Hiccup smudged out the left tail fin of the dragon's sketch, and instantly knew it wasn't right. Was that why it wouldn't fly? Was it not_ able_ to fly out? The dragon had seemed to give up at this point and went to the lake only for the fish there to evade him. She wondered why he didn't just swim for them, but then she realized that maybe he couldn't swim, and especially not with only one tail fin. Hiccup started to feel bad, but when her grip on her charcoal pencil loosened it fell out of her hand with a light clatter down into the cove. The dragon of course noticed and looked up at her with what she could only guess curiosity in its eyes. She found herself tilting her head in wonder, her ears involuntarily perking—despite the fact the movement was involuntary, it was the first time she'd actually moved them in years. The dragon copied her, cocking its head to the side as well and perking its ears up in the same fashion. They stared at each other for a few moments, neither able to look away, until Hiccup decided it was probably time for her to go back. Despite having come looking for answers, she left with even more questions than before.

**000**

Something clattered onto the ground of his new territory, and looking up, Night Fury noticed that it was the girl. Why was she here? And why was she just staring at him? Her cover was pulled off from her head and he saw her ears that mimicked his own. It was so fascinating; he'd never seen anything like it. How was it even possible? And maybe that's the scent that had been so familiar; the scent of a Night Fury. It was so faint, but still there; even now he could sense it. He just hadn't been able to figure it out before. Not until now. Same tail, same ears, she had to be related to his kind somehow. But what she was doing with the Vikings was another question; a question for later perhaps?

The girl's head cocked to the side, her ears perking up making the gesture of curiosity and questioning. So she had questions too? He did the same copying the gesture to tell her he felt the same, and after staring at each other for a long time just looking into each others' green eyes as if each searching for answers without words, the girl broke eye contact and left without a word. It was a bit of a weird interaction, but he supposed it was better than the last one. And strange enough, he almost hoped she would come back again. He had so many questions about who and what this girl was now, and after what just happened, he knew he needed answers.

* * *

**You should expect Aric's gonna be a bit of a**_** "walking contradiction"**_**.**** (Props if you get the reference. Hint, and this is why it's italicized and in quotes, it's from a fairly recent song that aired on TV.) But, hey, when you're unsure of something who isn't?**


	5. The Book of Dragons

**Alright, short chapter, but if you're getting 2 chapters in one week, especially the day after one was uploaded, expect the second one's gonna be short. Well, unless I'm on break I guess. Which, by the way, is coming next week. Just got one more final to take care of and I get a week break before the fall quarter starts.**

* * *

_**The Book of Dragons:**_

Every one was in the Great Hall for debriefing; every single recruit. All except for one girl that is. Hiccup. Aric really couldn't believe it; the future leader of their tribe, and she was not only late to their first day of training, but also the debriefing? Well, he could certainly add tardy to the list of information he was gathering about the Haddock. Cowardly would be the another one. She practically hid the entire time and just all around looked like she didn't want to even be there in the first place. He wasn't exactly sure why, but it frustrated him, and he couldn't help the glare that set on his face as he ate his chicken. Did she not care? She was supposed to be the person who would eventually lead the tribe; lead their battles. How was she gonna do that when she couldn't even face a dragon without panicking?

His face smoothed out as his friends and sister talked around him, his head resting in the palm of his hand against the table. Maybe he was being a little harsh. It was only their first day after all, and it wasn't like anyone else did any better; distraction was everyone's enemy today. It just irked him that she couldn't even bother to show up on time while everyone else, including the twins for Thor's sake, could.

* * *

It was dark, and raining, and as Hiccup raced to the Great Hall, she knew she was already late. Again. She hadn't expected to be so long, and she just knew things were gonna be tense when she got there. And when it had started raining making Hiccup soaked, Hiccup just wanted to scream. Did the gods just get a kick of watching as they tormented her?

Reaching the monstrous doors of the Great Hall, Hiccup pushed one open hoping she wasn't too late, but by the looks of it, everyone was already done with their meals.

"Alright. Where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber had asked when she came in. Well, at least she didn't miss the whole thing.

"Well, besides for allowing a mutton-headed idiot to distract me", Astrid started, answering the question herself. "I mistimed my somersault dive. It was sloppy and threw off my reverse tumble."

"Ya, we noticed", Aric sarcastically commented. It was answered with a light shove.

"No, no you were great", Snotlout said; probably an attempt at wooing her once again. "That was so 'Astrid'."

"She's right", Gobber said intervening, "You have to be tough on yourselves."

Hiccup approached the table grabbing a plate of probably cold chicken that had been likely waiting for her for only the gods know how long, when Gobber noticed her. "Where did Hiccup go wrong?" he asked.

"Uh, she showed up?" Ruffnut answered.

Snotlout actively moved to block the open seat next to him, scooting back to do so again when she was just grabbing a cup on the other side of him. As if she'd really want to sit next to him. As per usual, Hiccup just sat by herself, sitting at table just next door.

"She didn't get eaten?" Tuffnut answered next.

Hiccup sat down with her cold meal, and that's when Aric answered, a harsh tone and expression directed at her.

"She's_ never _where she should be."

_'That…kinda hurt'_, Hiccup deflated. And to think just this morning she was starting to think he liked her.

"_Thank you_, Aric", Gobber said as Hiccup picked at her chicken; she suddenly wasn't hungry. "You need to live and breathe this stuff. The Dragon Manual", he plopped a book onto the others' table. "Everything we know about every dragon we know of."

_'Everything?' _Hiccup wondered looking over.

Thunder sounded outside.

"No attacks tonight", Gobber concluded. "Hurry up." And with that he made to leave.

"Wait", Tuffnut said letting the dagger he was balancing on the table fall. "You mean read?"

Gobber just ignored the twin exiting the hall.

"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut added on.

"Why read the words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout brilliantly stated. _'So you can know what you're up against giving you a better chance to live__?__'_ Hiccup dryly answered in her head.

"Oh! I've read it like, seven times!" Fishlegs then blurted out practically bursting at the seams with excitement. "There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face, an-and there's this other one that buries itself for like a week—"

Tuffnut promptly shut him up with the gesture of 'be quiet'. "Yeah, that sounds great. Now, there was a chance I was gonna read that…" "But now…" Ruffnut finished.

"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff", Snotlout said, and stood up to leave. Everyone else followed leaving the Great Hall to turn in for the night leaving Astrid, Aric, and Hiccup, and Hiccup decided to approach the table where the siblings sat.

"So, I guess we'll share?" she said kindly.

"Already read it", Astrid replied, shrugging one shoulder as if to add sorry. She then stood up and headed for the door. "Come on bro." Aric took one short glance at Hiccup, then left without even saying a word leaving Hiccup all alone. Again.

"Wow, all mine then. Great", she sighed. The hall cleared out rather quickly as straggling villagers decided to turn in, and when the fire pit was put out with absolutely no regard for the fact she was still there, Hiccup used her night vision―not that she could turn it off― to get herself a few candles so she could read the Book of Dragons to herself. Maybe there was something in there that could help her understand the Night Fury, and maybe even herself.

"Dragon classifications: Strike class, Fear class, Mystery class…" she read aloud. "Thunderdrum. This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools. When startled, the Thunderdrum produces a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range…extremely dangerous, kill on sight."

She turned the page and arrived to a Sharp class dragon. "Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees...extremely dangerous, kill on sight." As she kept flipping through the book, the dragons just got more and more dangerous and deadly, beginning to scare her. The message of 'extremely dangerous', and 'kill on sight' seemed to be written on every page she turned to.

At last, she turned to the page of the Night Fury, and she stopped. There was a single small drawing of what appeared to be a tiny Night Fury, but not much, if anything, seemed to be known. "Night Fury", Hiccup said in awe. "Speed unknown, size unknown; the unholy offspring of lighting and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only chance, hide and pray it does not find you." _'And that's what I am.' _That scared Hiccup, and she still couldn't get passed the fact that the dragon didn't seem all that ferocious and blood thirsty as the book made it sound. Something just didn't add up. She pulled out her notebook, turning to the page with the full sized dragon's sketch, and dropped it onto the page of the 'Night Fury'. _'I have to learn more__'_, Hiccup's mind echoed, and she supposed that maybe Gobber knew something. He and her father had seen one before, after all. Maybe they just put the information somewhere else.

Decided, Hiccup left and headed for home, a list of questions building by the minute for tomorrow. Hiccup's curiosity sometimes caused more trouble than good, but she simply couldn't rest until she knew more about that dragon.

* * *

**Careful there, Hic. Curiosity killed the cat.**


	6. A Dragon and a Hybrid

**And here we are again. One of the most important scenes in the entire franchise, if not THE most important.**

* * *

_**A Dragon and a Hybrid:**_

The arena was set up like a maze. Wooden walls were angled this way and that creating certain paths and blocking others. The Deadly Nadder was let out this time, and Gobber stood above the arena where the stands were.

Hiccup stopped in front of him. "You know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there like another book? Or a-a sequel? Maybe a Night Fury pamphlet—Wah!" Hiccup startled when a blast of fire was shot at her luckily just hitting her ax and the wall beside her.

"Focus, Hiccup!" Gobber yelled down to her. "You're not even trying!"

The Deadly Nadder stood in front of her, and as it began to charge at her, Hiccup ran for it. The Nadder followed hopping on top of the walls like a bird hopping from branch to branch eyeing its prey.

"Today is all about ATTACK! Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter."

"AHHHH!" Fishlegs screamed somewhere in the maze, the sound of spines sticking into wood. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" he shouted.

"Look for its blind spot", Gobber advised. "Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike."

Hiccup made it back to the spot she once was in front of Gobber, and her feet stopped. She knew now probably wasn't the best time, but she couldn't help herself. She could honestly care less about these classes; this was more important.

"Do you ever bathe?" she then heard Ruffnut.

"If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot", Tuffnut said back.

"How 'bout I give you one!"

Shoving, a scream, a squawk, fire, and then louder screaming. Hiccup shook her head.

"Blind spot, yes. Deaf spot? Not so much", Gobber chuckled at his own joke.

"Hey, uh, so, how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?" Hiccup tried gaining his attention. Maybe it could get the ball rolling.

"No one's ever met a grown one and lived to tell the tale. Now would you get in there?!" Gobber yelled down at her.

"Yeah, yeah, I know", Hiccup rolled her eyes. Of course he'd just dodge the question. "But, hypothetically―"

"Hiccup", Astrid whispered gaining her attention. She and Snotlout were crouched behind one of the walls; the poor girl couldn't seem to shake the boy off. "Get down."

Hiccup joined the two teens crouching behind them, and Astrid peaked out before quickly bringing her head back. She'd probably seen the Nadder judging by the look on her face and the haste to get out of sight. On a quiet count of three, Astrid did a front roll passed the dragon and out of sight behind the next wall. Snotlout went next, and then Hiccup, but when Hiccup tried doing the move, her heavy wings and shield weighed her down causing her to stop mid roll. The Nadder of course noticed her, and after a squawk, it charged. Hiccup ran for it, the Nadder chasing, but soon the Nadder stopped when it spotted Astrid to the left. The blond was about to charge with her sword, but was quickly shoved aside by Snotlout.

"Hey!" Astrid exclaimed.

"Watch out babe, I'll take care of this", he just said like he hadn't heard, or didn't care. He threw his mace, missing by a mile. The Nadder followed the path of the weapon, then when it hit the wall next to it, she seemed to almost laugh at him as if making fun of him. But that didn't make sense, Hiccup's thoughts whirled. She―_ it_ was just an animal. Animals didn't laugh, did they?

"The sun was in my eyes, Astrid", Hiccup was brought back to reality. Snotlout was attempting to defend himself with the excuse, but Astrid wasn't having it just continuing to glare at him. It was cut off, though, when the two had to run from the Nadder's fire. "What do you want me to do? Block out the sun? I could do that, but I don't have time right now."

While the Nadder was distracted with chasing Astrid and Snotlout, Hiccup went back to Gobber to continue her questions. If he thought she'd give up that easy, he had another thing coming.

000

Aric spotted his sister running from the Nadder as it chased her down.

"Astrid, this way!" he yelled for her, and when Astrid ran passed him he tossed a rock at the Nadder. "Hey! Over here, big guy!" And with that, he ran expecting the Nadder to follow him. It worked, but now the Nadder was really mad charging at him relentlessly knocking down every barrier in it's path.

"Maybe not my best idea", Aric said to himself.

000

"You think that maybe they take the day time off? Yo-you know, li-like a cat," Hiccup questioned. "Ugh", she grunted as the teens knocked into her, and her shield, as they rushed passed. "Has anyone―ever seen one―ugh―napping?"

"HICCUP!" Gobber shouted pointing behind her, and when Hiccup turned around she spotted Aric running from the Nadder, or more so jumping from wall to wall as they tumbled from the Nadder's relentless chasing. When the Nadder went from chasing Snotlout and Astrid to Aric Hiccup didn't know, but the carnage was coming towards her and before she could move, Aric was in the air above her.

"HICCAAA!" Aric screamed before landing on top of her, his ax embedded into her shield.

"Oooh… love on the battle field", Tuffnut teased.

"Ha! Told ya!" Snotlout followed.

The Nadder was coming towards them and Aric was becoming frantic pulling at his ax consequently hurting Hiccup in the process.

"L-let me― Why don't you―OW!" Hiccup yelled. He ripped the shield off her arm, and in the last second as Hiccup curled up into a frightened ball, slammed the ax-shield at the Nadder's nose. It screeched, and scurried off. When Hiccup peeked out she saw a very pissed off Aric.

"Is this some kind of joke to you?!" he snapped down at her. "Our parents' war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on." He stormed out, everyone else leaving too, and now Hiccup just felt like the biggest failure in the entire archipelago.

She sighed and sat up with her legs in front of her before leaning her arms and head on them. Gobber came down, and she just looked up at him with sad eyes of embarrassment and shame. Gobber sighed.

"Hiccup, what's going on? I thought this was what you wanted, but you're not even trying", he said as he began to clean up the mess left behind. "What's Stoick gonna think when he comes home and finds out you haven't made a single effort?"

"It's just… Hiccup paused. "I just wanted to know more about the Night Fury", she said instead as she helped Gobber clean up.

"What ever for?"

"Gobber― I know", Hiccup told him.

Gobber seemed to be caught off guard by her statement for a second, but then his shoulders dropped back down. "Ah", he sighed. "That. Look, Hiccup, I meant what I said. You're lucky we have that drawing. It was an in and out mission; we never even saw the mother."

"But there's got to be something you can tell me?"

"'Fraid not, lass." He put his hand on her shoulder. "But don't worry. Trust me, Hiccup, you're nothing like one of those nasty devils. Got that?"

"What makes you so sure?" Hiccup asked.

"Because I know you've got a big heart; just like your mother. And believe me when I say, no dragon, especially one as vicious as a Night Fury, could ever have that." He gave her a little pat, and then sent her off while he finished up.

Normally, Hiccup would have smiled with Gobber's answer, but instead Hiccup found herself questioning everything he just said. He was wrong about dragons always going for the kill; what else could he have been wrong about? By this point, Hiccup wasn't so sure if she was all that different from the Night Fury as Gobber thought, and the weirdest part was, she wasn't so sure if that was a bad thing, or not.

* * *

Looking left, right, and behind, Hiccup checked out the area to make sure no one would see. When she was sure the coast was clear, Hiccup went inside the food store house. She needed something to get in the Night Fury's good graces if she wanted to get even close to it, and seeing as he must have been starving, she figured a food offering would be a good start. The only question was, what did Night Furies eat?

"Alright, Hiccup, think. The Night Fury had been trying to fish in the lake, so he probably eats fish", she said to herself as she made her way to the baskets of fish. "Ugh, but what kind of fish?"

Hiccup scanned each basket looking at the type of fish inside. There was salmon, trout, pike, pollack, cod―

"Aha. Perfect." Cod had always been her favorite as a kid; maybe that meant it'd be the Night Fury's favorite too. Taking one―just one wouldn't hurt anyone―Hiccup poked her head out making sure the coast was clear, and then raced out. She took the shield she'd left laying by a tree, and then walked straight into the forest for the cove.

Hiccup wasn't exactly sure what she was doing. All she knew was that if she wanted to learn more about the creature, she'd have to do it herself. Her plan was to feed him, hope it would stay calm to let her approach it, or maybe just watch, and then she could maybe just observe and learn. Maybe it'd even let her touch him.

Hiccup shook her head. Lately her mind had been shifting between 'it' and 'he' when referring to the Night Fury. She couldn't seem to help it. She wasn't exactly sure how, but somehow whenever she got near a dragon, she could always determine what gender it was. It came naturally to her brain, and she never liked it. It was easier to think of dragons as just its; giving them actual pronouns gave them more humanity then Hiccup had felt they deserved. But now, with these new thoughts and questions of what if the Night Fury was more circling through her mind, she kept slipping. She even slipped with the Nadder earlier, and that had actually scared her a little bit. She just wanted to know more about the Night Fury, her curiosity satiated. She didn't want to end up joining the dragons' side. And what if that's what was happening to her? What if by coming in contact with that dragon, he'd surfaced something bad inside her? What if by going back she was playing right into its claws?

"What am I doing?" Hiccup stopped herself in the middle of the forest. "I-I can't go back, can I? Oh, what am I saying, of course I can. It's just…research. Oh… but what if that's what it wants me to think?" Hiccup worried. "This is crazy", she sighed, and her eyes closed. "No. It was me who didn't kill that dragon, and it's me whose gonna find out why it― _he_ did the same for me." Decided, Hiccup marched forward until she reached the cove.

Once she reached the cove, Hiccup made her way down a path to two pillars of stone that almost acted like a doorway. Still quite wary of the dragon, Hiccup decided she'd throw the offering in first. She tossed the cod in, and while it didn't go very far, Hiccup still ducked behind her shield expecting the Night Fury to pounce on it.

Nothing happened.

Hiccup figured he probably just didn't see or smell it. But, that meant she'd have to go inside now to bring it further in. After taking a breath, with her shield in front of her, Hiccup bravely moved forward. Well, that is until the shield got stuck. It seemed the doorway was too small for the defense weapon. She tried pulling at it, but it wouldn't budge. She let go finding it truly wedged in there and crawled underneath to try the other side, but still nothing. She sighed.

_'So much for that plan'_, she thought, but there was no turning back now. Without her protection, she picked up the cod and ventured further into the cove.

**000**

Night Fury awoke in his cave to the scent of a female. And not just any female; the Human-Night Fury creature. Night Fury stood and crept out from his new home to see the girl pick up a fish and walk into his cove. He stalked up to a rock ledge to get a better vantage point.

_**'She came back? Why?' **_he thought. Although he had hoped she would return, he was still wary. Why exactly had she come back? And why did she have food with her? Was she trying to lure him out? Was this some kind of trick? He wasn't sure, but his stomach was empty and he was so desperately hungry. He decided he'd take the risk. Before he hopped down, though, the girl had sensed his presence, and turned around seeing him. She reared back in fright, but didn't move away. Night Fury hopped down and steadily stalked closer to her and the fish watching her every move as he did so. She extended her paw dangling the fish out to him; she was clearly as weary of him as he was of her. Maybe that was a good sign. He stretched his head out to take the fish―his favorite kind he realized―when out of the corner of his eye he saw something gleam within her false skins.

**"I knew it"**, he growled, and the girl startled taking her hand and fish back, clutching them to her chest in fear.

000

For a moment, Hiccup didn't understand why the Night Fury suddenly growled at her, her eyes wide in sudden fear, but that's when she remembered her dagger. He must have seen it behind her cloak and vest. Carefully and slowly, she pulled her vest back and took the dagger out making sure the dragon could see her every movement with the weapon as the dragon tracked it. She stretched her arm away from her body to the side and dropped it with the point down. It didn't seem to satisfy the creature, though. He growled, then warbled something out, but Hiccup didn't understand looking at him in confusion. He did it again, but Hiccup still didn't get it. Was he trying to talk to her?

"I'm sorry. I don't understand", she said, and somehow the dragon seemed to get it, his eyes lighting in understanding. "Wait. Do you…understand me?" she asked, and the Night Fury gave a curt nod still crouched lowly to the ground. "Incredible", Hiccup muttered in fascination.

With his head, the dragon then gestured towards the lake, and now she understood; he wanted her to throw the dagger away. So, using her foot, Hiccup tossed the dagger into the lake. That was all it took for the fearsome dragon to immediately calm and look almost like an adorable kitten waiting for its food. She offered the fish again, and he came towards her with his mouth open to take the fish.

As she peered inside his mouth, it appeared he didn't have teeth, but that couldn't have been right. She just saw his teeth just a few seconds ago when he threatened her. "Huh. Toothless", Hiccup wondered. "I could have sworn you had―" The dragon's teeth sprung out and he took the fish from her hands eating it while sitting on his haunches. "…teeth", Hiccup said stunned, her hands pressed against her chest.

**000**

Night Fury swallowed the tasty fish licking his lips afterwards. That was really good. Or maybe his hunger was just making him think it was better than it actually was? Nevertheless, it was the best fish he'd ever had. That's when he remembered the girl. He looked to her and was confused. She was just watching him, eating nothing herself. Did she really only bring one? She was so skinny. Was that just normal for her species, or did her caretakers not feed her enough? Maybe not, Night Fury decided. The humans probably took her from her pack and family and were now keeping her as some sort of prisoner or hostage. They likely didn't feed her often, if at all, judging by how tiny she truly was. And by how she spoke the human's tongue, but couldn't understand the dragon's, she must have been very young when it happened; not yet passed the hatchling stage yet he'd wager. He went back onto his fours and approached the poor Human-Night Fury, but she began to freak out backing away.

"Ah, no. No, no, no", she said as she tripped onto her butt and scooted away till her back hit a small boulder. "I don't have anymore", she told him, and that confirmed it; she didn't have anymore. Well, growing younglings needed to eat, and after freeing his bonds and giving him food, he wasn't gonna let this little one perish.

000

The Night Fury began to make a choking sound above her like he was gagging, and after a few moments half of the cod she'd just given the dragon landed into her lap.

"Eugh", Hiccup grimaced and cringed in disgust just looking at it. The dragon sat back on his haunches and looked to her expectantly as if waiting for her to do something. Hiccup sat up, staring back at the dragon not having any idea what was going on. What was he waiting for? Pretty soon, it got a bit awkward and Hiccup had to break eye contact looking at the ground instead. At that point, the dragon seemed to understand she didn't know what he wanted, and explained with another gesture of his head to the fish and back up.

Hiccup looked down at the fish then back up at the dragon. Did he want her to do what she thought he wanted her to do? She looked to him in question making sure she understood.

_'Are you serious?'_

When the dragon looked down at the fish and back up again more assertively this time, she knew he was.

Sighing, Hiccup supposed she didn't really have a choice. Once upon a time, she'd wondered what raw fish tasted like, often trying to sneak a bite before her dad could cook it; it was just this weird craving she had as a child, soon just turning into a mild curiosity she had to suppress as well. But never in her life did she think it would be coming from a dragon's stomach. Picking the fish up, Hiccup took a bite into the saliva coated specimen, and it tasted worse than she could have ever imagined. It was slimy, and tasted of mud and something else she couldn't identify. She wanted to spit it out, but didn't want to possibly offend the dragon sitting in front of her. To try to show she appreciated 'the gift' and liked it she smiled and hummed with approval. That's when the dragon made a gesture to swallow.

_'Oh come on!'_ she expressed. There was really no fooling him was there.

Trying her very best not to gag, Hiccup forced herself to swallow the vile stuff, shivering with disgust afterwards. The Night Fury looked pleased, and she forced a smile on her face to show she enjoyed his 'gift', her very sharp fang like canines showing.

**000**

After finally eating the fish, Night Fury not caring if she liked it or not―she just needed to eat―the girl did a weird thing with her face. It was like a snarl, but not exactly threatening. He tilted his head in wonderment, then began to try it himself. He looked at the way the girl did it, and saw she was pulling her lips back to make the face, so that's what he did. As he did so, the girl's friendly snarl began to falter and she began to look at him with that same wondrous stare she had the day before.

Putting her unfinished meal down, she pulled the cover on her head down revealing her ears again, and Night Fury was happy for it. Seeing those gave him a certain joy he couldn't explain; he didn't understand why she covered them up in the first place. The girl began coming closer, getting bolder, but then she reached her paw out. A sign of aggression; she was gonna attempt to swipe at him. He snarled at her telling her to stop, and she did. This youngling was a good listener. Or so he thought, because after a few moments she tried again.

**"Stop!" **he snarled again, and she did so, gasping a little, but just to make sure she wouldn't try anything again, he decided it best to move away. Going back to all fours, he jumped and glided across the lake.

000

Hiccup felt no real danger around the dragon anymore. In fact, she almost felt like he understood her. Maybe that's why she had felt compelled to remove her hood and bear her ears to him. She wasn't sure; it just sorta happened. Standing up, Hiccup looked as the Night Fury settled on the other side of the lake, and Hiccup decided she'd go over to him. She wasn't sure why, but she just felt this need to try and touch him. Like if she could, it'd be some great feat or discovery. She followed to where the Night Fury was lying down, a patch of burnt grass and dirt beneath him that he'd just burnt.

_'Huh. So dragons like to sleep on hot surfaces'_, Hiccup thought. It was amazing how much more she was learning here than in two whole classes with Gobber.

The dragon looked up, and Hiccup saw that he was staring at a bird on a nearby tree branch. The bird flew away and the dragon followed it with a longing look. It was incredible how truly expressive the Night Fury was, but that thought quickly died with the crushing feeling of guilt as she looked at the flying bird as well. She knew exactly why the dragon had that look.

Back at the task at hand, Hiccup went up to the dragon and sat cross legged behind him. He noticed her quite quickly when following the bird led to looking behind him, but Hiccup just smiled sweetly putting a hand up for hello, and the Night Fury's ears went down uncaringly before putting his head down and draping his tail over his face.

With the dragon choosing to ignore her, and his face behind his tail, Hiccup scooted over carefully before leaning over ever so slightly to try and touch him again. But, just as she was about to come in contact with his one finned tail, the dragon must have sensed her because he instantly lifted his tail seeing her as if saying 'what do you think you're doing?' and Hiccup instantly popped up walking away as if to say 'nothing'.

The dragon moved to sleep like a bat on a tree branch then, and Hiccup decided it best to leave him alone, strolling towards the lake. Best not to push him; he was a dragon after all.

A dragon.

Hiccup looked back to the sleeping Night Fury hanging like a bat peacefully, then to the cod he had given her, and then to her reflection in the lake. It'd been so long since she'd seen her reflection like this; her ears exposed. And it was strange. As she looked at herself now, she felt no hatred. She felt no sadness, no fear, nothing. In fact, she almost felt content; like it didn't matter. Watching herself through the water, the rest of her cloak fell to the ground, and as she saw her wings and tail she still felt the same emotion. Somehow, she didn't feel like a monster anymore.

Hiccup looked back to the sleeping dragon and found a little smile grace her face. She decided to let him sleep, and sat down by the lake to wait. It wasn't like the village needed her anyway.

**000**

Opening his eyes and removing his wings and tail from his line of sight, Night Fury found it was dusk and yet the girl was still there. She was sitting on a rock, her tail draped down the back, and her cover completely gone. Curious, he hopped down from his tree and went over to see what she was doing. What he found was a stick in her hand and lines being scratched in the dirt. The girl noticed he was there, her body jolting slightly, but she ignored his presence continuing to scratch in the dirt as he sat on his haunches watching this strange activity. Pretty soon, the scratching turned into an image, and that image turned out to be himself―his head anyway. He peacefully watched her continue until she finished his head, when he was suddenly inspired to try it himself; maybe it'd be fun. Turning around, looked around to find a suitable scratching stick for himself, and finding a small tree, he trotted over, grabbed it with his teeth, and ripped it out of the ground. By this point, the girl was turned around watching his actions, and he found himself delighted that she was going to watch him just like he had for her. And that gave him an idea. She'd scratched his image into the ground, so why not scratch hers?

000

Hiccup watched as the Night Fury used a tree to draw in the dirt, running this way and that wildly but methodically. It was fascinating, and it seemed the dragon was having a lot of fun too. She watched him go around and around, looking back to her every now and then, and Hiccup began to wonder if he was looking back to make sure she was still watching or looking at her because he was trying to draw her as some sort of payback for drawing him. Dragging the tree around her one more time, accidentally hitting her in the head with some branches in the process, the Night Fury declared his drawing finished. He threw the tree away, looked to his new picture, and even nodded as if approving of his work.

Hiccup stood up wanting to get a look at what he drew, if he actually drew anything, but being in the middle of the picture didn't give her a good vantage point to see, so she tried stepping out. But, as soon as she took a step, the dragon growled and Hiccup flinched. What did she do wrong? Why was he mad again? She looked down, and noticed her foot.

_'Oops'_, she thought to herself realizing the problem. She'd accidentally stepped on one of the lines of his picture. Taking her foot off, the dragon relaxed looking pleased, and just for curiosity's sake, Hiccup wanting to see how far she could tease the dragon, Hiccup placed her foot back onto the line. The dragon growled again, and then relaxed again when Hiccup took her foot off. On, off, on, off, on, off; Hiccup did it only a few more times before deciding the dragon was likely gonna get annoyed and probably try pouncing on her soon, so Hiccup placed her foot above the line, and then stepped over it. The dragon looked happy again, and Hiccup gave him a closed smile back. Stepping over each line, Hiccup found her steps were almost like a dance, her tail beginning to unconsciously sway with it. Finding her way out of the maze, Hiccup danced over the lines finding herself spinning a couple times, and just when Hiccup was completely happy and relaxed, she felt a heavy breath blow in her hair stopping her in her tracks. Turning around, Hiccup found the Night Fury to have been right behind her, and the dragon looked down at her with a calm expression as if waiting to see what she'd do next.

Hiccup's hand went up, the dragon snarled again, and Hiccup stopped her hand bringing it back. After everything, Hiccup still couldn't figure out why the dragon wouldn't let her touch him? Then, Hiccup thought of something crazy. How was the dragon supposed to trust her when she showed no sign of trusting him? He couldn't. She needed to show him she wasn't afraid, and deciding that to be the answer, Hiccup did something no Viking would ever do. She closed her eyes and turned her head away.

**000**

The girl's head turned away from him before her paw slowly reached out again, and Night Fury watched intrigued. At any second, if he so chose, he could snap her paw right off, but the little youngling showed no sign of fear other than a pounding heart. He stood there watching her tiny paw move closer and closer until she couldn't reach any further, and then she stopped, the paw only insects away from his face.

Night Fury was taken back by this. How was she so trusting of him all of a sudden? Why would she risk her soft vulnerable paw like this? What was she waiting for? Deciding she must have been waiting for him to do something, Night Fury did the only thing he could think of; something that would show her his trust towards her, and it was something no dragon of his nest would have never thought of doing. Slowly, he placed his snout in the tiny paw of a human.

000

Immediately, Hiccup felt some type of energy course through her; a type of energy that made her heart swell, but it's beat slow. She lifted her head up to look back at the Night Fury, and she knew he felt it too. He opened his eyes, stared at her, and then ran off. Hiccup looked down at her hand where skin had touched scales, and when she looked back up at the Night Fury, the dragon glancing back at her, she smiled.

"My name's Hiccup, by the way", she said, and the dragon turned to her with a tilt of his head. "What's your name?"

He warbled something, but Hiccup shook her head not understanding. "I'm sorry, but I still can't understand you", she told him. Then Hiccup thought for a moment. It didn't seem right to just keep calling him dragon or Night Fury; there had to be something she could call him until he could tell her his real name. "Toothless", Hiccup decided. "How about I call you Toothless."

The dragon warbled questioningly.

"You know, because of your retractable teeth", she explained.

The dragon to be named looked to be thinking about it for a moment, then gave her what seemed to be a happily toned sound, and Hiccup smiled.

Grabbing her cloak, she made her way out the cove.

"Goodbye, Toothless", she bid her new friend, and for the first time in a long time, Hiccup walked home with a smile on her face.

* * *

**Please Review.**


	7. Forged Friendship

_**Forged ****Friendship**__**:**_

Just as Hiccup made it out of the forest and into the village, she was found by Gobber and dragged to join him and the teens on one of the abandoned catapults for a campfire like dinner for this night's debriefing. She reluctantly complied and there was a basket of food for everyone to choose from. While everyone chose the chicken, Hiccup chose the fish. But before she sat down, her curiosity got the best of her, and making sure no one was looking, she decided to try the raw fish. After all, maybe it'd taste different being that it hadn't been in a dragon's stomach. She took a small bite and the taste was one thousand times better than the fish Toothless gave her. Given the choice, she would have probably continued to eat it uncooked, but cooked fish was still what she was used to, and 'humans' don't typically eat unprepared raw fish.

She sat down next to the fire, the stick holding her fish in the portion she bit to conceal it, and after a quick debriefing of everyone's progress, Gobber began telling his stories that she'd heard one hundred times before. She wasn't really paying attention, instead becoming lost in her own thoughts about what had happened that day.

"…and with one twist, he took my hand and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face. I was delicious. He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg."

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon? Like if your mind was still in control of it you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing its heart or something", Fishlegs wondered.

"I swear I'm so angry right now", Snotlout stated. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight…with my face."

"Un-unh. It's the wings and tails you really want", Gobber, as their instructor, corrected him. "If it can't fly it can't get away; a downed dragon is a dead dragon."

And that's when Hiccup's mind came to a screeching halt. Toothless was a downed dragon. He lost his tail and couldn't fly; he was practically a sitting duck. And if any predator, namely a Viking, came across him inside that cove he'd never stand a chance.

She was going to lose him, and it was all her fault. She was the one who shot him down, and she was the one who'd hurt his tail in the process. She had to fix it; she had to make it right. Toothless was dead if she didn't.

As quick and discrete as she could, Hiccup left her dinner behind and raced down the steps, into the village, and straight into her workroom in the forge. Taking out her journal she immediately created a plan. She was going to make Toothless a new tail, and she was going to do it tonight.

Using her own tail as a guide, and then readjusting the size for the Night Fury's, she had a blue print of what she needed to do to make it, and then began doing so. It took all night, but she was determined, and when it was finished all she had to do was see if it fit and test it. Taking the prototype, Hiccup raced out the forge and into the forest happy with her timing as it was still too early for any Vikings to be out.

Once in the safety of the forest, Hiccup slowed and placed the tail by a tree to get some food. Toothless would likely be hungry, and she was pretty famished as well, so she got a large basket and stuffed it with as many different fish as she could find, figuring he might like the variety, and took one for herself as well. Then with her friend's breakfast, Hiccup walked back into the forest, picked up the prototype tail, and made her way to the cove.

000

As Aric looked out the window, catching sight of Hiccup racing out of the forge and into the forest with some strange contraption in her hands, he wondered what she was up to? She had been acting weird the previous night, just holding her fish over the fire but not eating it, and then suddenly running off with seemingly no reason. It was strange; stranger than normal, anyway. And as Aric watched her disappear within the dense foliage of the forest she spent all her days in, he began to truly wonder what it was Hiccup was hiding in there and why.

* * *

"Oh, Toothless…!" Hiccup called when she reached the cove. As she entered, she saw Toothless come out from his cave and come over to where she was with the basket full of goodies he no doubt could smell. "I brought breakfast", she grunted placing the basket down from her back and then tipping it over with her foot for all the fish to spill out.

Toothless looked surprised, happy, and excited to see the bountiful food supply, and immediately began sifting through the pile.

"We've got some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod", Hiccup began listing every so slightly inching her way behind him with the prosthetic tail fin. "Just a few pollack in there, and a whole smoked eel too."

Hiccup expected for Toothless to dig right in, but at the mention of the eel he suddenly began to hiss searching the pile more diligently now as he backed away. Confused, Hiccup found the eel and picked it up, but that only made things worse as Toothless shrieked and reared back in freight.

"Oh, no, no, no", Hiccup realized wanting more than anything for the Night Fury to calm down again. She threw the eel away and that did the trick in calming Toothless down. "Yeah, I don't really like eel much either. Makes me sick, you know?"

They figured that one out the hard way. When she was little, her dad had noticed her taste for fish, so among other foods for her to try, he had had her try all kinds of different seafood. At least one different type each day. One day, the fishermen came back with a whole slew of fresh eel, and her father came home that night with eel for dinner. He cooked it up and served it, but when Hiccup took a bite, not only did she not like the taste, making a face and pushing the plate away, but pretty soon she began to feel sick. It wasn't too long before Hiccup began throwing up and was stuck in bed sick for the whole following day. Her dad was confused at first as he had felt fine and the eel was fresh, so it couldn't have been bad, but after Gothi had a look at her it was determined she must have just had a bad reaction to it like a mild allergy. Hiccup and her dad were both glad she'd be okay, but they each vowed that she'd never touch eel ever again. The smell of the house still lingered in their minds.

Hiccup shuddered at just the thought.

With the eel gone now, Toothless dug into his meal and Hiccup continued to slip by and around to his tail.

**000**

"Okay, well don't you mind me. I'll just be back...here. Minding my own business…" the girl, or Hiccup, wandered off muttering.

**"Knock yourself out"**, Night Fury, or Toothless, said not really caring―these new titles, or names, were gonna take some getting used to. He trusted she wouldn't do anything to him. He would have to make sure she ate, though. To bring all of this for him and nothing for herself? The girl must have been some sort of servant to the humans, used to giving but taking nothing for herself.

000

Hiccup was by his injured tail now and knelt down to try and put the prosthetic prototype on, only for Toothless to move his tail. She followed it, but he did it again, and then again pulling her forward. In order to keep it still she sat on the tail and began to work on getting the prosthetic on. It fit perfectly, and matched his right tail fin the way it was supposed to. She might have to make a few adjustments, but in all it was a pretty good first fitting. While Hiccup was busy fiddling with his new tail, however, she didn't notice Toothless could feel something was different.

**000**

As Night Fury―no wait, Toothless―rummaged through the now empty basket, he began to feel a weight on his tail. But not only that; as he moved his right tail fin a bit he felt it.

His wings dropped in shock.

He could feel his left tail fin, the absence of what once was there gone. He knew some reptiles could regrow their limbs, but he had no idea dragons could. Now he could fly out from this cove and return home.

Stretching his wings, Toothless took off.

000

Very suddenly, Toothless took off taking a screaming Hiccup with him hanging onto his tail for dear life, her tail wrapped around his like life support. But as suddenly as he was up in the air, Toothless began to fall and Hiccup noticed the new tail fin had closed up, so with quick thinking she reached over and pulled it open. That did the trick and they were once again in the air, and soon out of the cove.

"Oh my—its working!" Hiccup exclaimed. She turned the fin to the right and they turned in that direction, back down into the cove and over the lake.

"Yes, yes I did it!" she exclaimed again ecstatic that she had actually achieved something for the first time.

**000**

Toothless looked back at the sound of the youngling and saw her clinging to his tail.

**"What the****―****? What are you thinking?! That's no place for you****"**, he said and then proceeded to toss her off. She was flung from his tail and landed safely in the lake. He was going to then scoop her up and possibly take her to the nest where she'd be safe from those human captors of hers, but as he shifted he felt something was off. Looking back, Toothless found his left tail fin still missing, something that almost looked like a human's false skin waving in the wind from where his tail fin used to be connected. The next thing he knew, he landed into the water of the lake, and Hiccup popped out enthusiastic as ever.

"Ya!" she screamed. The fall apparently did little to destroy her enthusiasm. For what, Toothless still wasn't sure.

Each making it back to shore, Toothless shook off the water from his scales while Hiccup took off her black cover, and brown smaller cover, and laid them on the grass to dry out in the sun. Then she laid herself down before the sun, and Toothless went over to lay down with her. She had an answer as to what just happened; he just knew it.

"Can you believe it?" Hiccup said happily. "It worked! My tail fin actually worked!" she practically squealed with excitement.

**"Your tail fin?" **Toothless looked to her tail fins. **"But you didn't use them? You just hung from my tail."**

Hiccup must have picked up on his questioning tone of confusion, as well as to where he was looking, because she then answered him accordingly. "Oh, no not my tail fin. Yours. Well, your new fake one anyway."

Toothless looked back at his own tail trying to gather what she was talking about. Is that what that false skin looking thing was? A new tail fin?

"See?" Hiccup sat up and pulled the 'tail fin' out to show him, and it did in fact look like his old one, only brown. It was incredible. "I started out with a thin strong fabric, then cut it into the shape of your tail fin."

**"Fabric." **So that's what they called it.

"Then, I made another layer and sewed the two up after placing these rods inside. That way it's structured and has equally distributed weight, but not too much to where your fins are uneven. And by the looks of it, I got it right! One my first try!" Hiccup burst out happily. "That's…never happened. Ever. Usually my inventions always fail. At least on the first couple of tries. But by then no one really wants to see them anymore, so they just go into the scraps pile." Hiccup sighed.

**"So, your place is to make stuff"**, Toothless concluded, but at this point he was still only guessing. He needed actual answers. **"Hiccup, what exactly is your place with the humans? Why are you there? Where did you come from?"**

Hiccup looked at him lost. "I'm sorry, Toothless. I know you're asking me something, and I want to answer what ever it is, but I still have no idea what you're saying."

Toothless huffed. There had to be a way he could get his questions answered. There was still so much about Hiccup he didn't understand. The answers were so close, and yet so far. If only she could understand him.

"I'm sure I'll learn to understand you with time, bud. It's like learning a new language. And I'll have you know, I'm a fast learner when it comes to those."

**"Really?"**

"Yep. Four languages so far; Norse, Latin, French, and English. Maybe your language could be the fifth."

**"Yeah!"** he crooned happily. It'd be so great to be able to actually communicate with Hiccup one day.

Hiccup looked happy with his croon. At least she could distinguish his tones. Then Hiccup frowned, but unlike before, it wasn't a sad frown. "I wonder what it's called, though. Hmm, Dragon-ese?" she questioned uncertainly.

Their language didn't have a title, so he gave Hiccup another happy croon hoping she'd guess he approved. And she did. Well, kind of anyway.

"I guessed right?" Hiccup asked surprised. "That's a first. Alright. Dragonese it is."

Hiccup laid back down leaning her back against him as they sat together. She looked relaxed and happy. "You know, you're the first real friend I've talked to in a long time. Gobber's great, but he's always just been a mentor to me; like a second father to sort of replace my mother. Haha, and you can't even talk back to me. Isn't that funny?"

Then, Hiccup did something Toothless didn't expect. She just began to talk, and as she talked Toothless' questions were answered one by one. Evidently, he was wrong with all his guesses. Hiccup wasn't a prisoner or servant, she was just a girl who was raised in the village of humans. In fact, as her woes spilled out, Toothless began to see they had more in common than he realized. Hiccup lived among the human villagers, but she was still the outcast. She was the only one of her kind as far as she knew, and she had no idea what she could be capable of. And she hadn't been allowed to explore it either; was even afraid to for most of her life. Being the only Night Fury in his nest, Toothless could understand the loneliness of that kind of existence. It wasn't rare that he would dreamed of kinship with another of his kind.

Then Toothless discovered that most of the humans didn't even know about Hiccup's dragon half, and yet they still outcast her all because of her other differences. "…You know, bud, when I was little I remember being so happy. Everything was so much simpler then. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to that time. When my father actually cared about me? He saved mom and me with the help of _your_ kinds' saliva you know."

**"So that's where you came from?" **

"My mom died later, but _I_ survived. He always used to call me his little survivor because of it. Because no matter what I faced I always survived. But now, I don't know if he even sees that as a good thing anymore. After all, who wants a small, useless, cursed runt as a chief?"

Small, weak, cursed, useless, runt…they were words that always seemed to pop up, and they were the words that seemed to define her amongst her nest. But Toothless didn't like that, and he wouldn't stand for it. Even the tiniest Fireworm dragon had a purpose. And just because they were small, didn't mean they were weak or fragile. In fact, they were one of the most dangerous dragons he knew. And Terrible Terrors? They could sometimes be a nuisance, but they were some of the most fierce and determined dragons out there. They never gave up easy. There had to be a way to show her that. The humans may shun her, but he, and no dragon for that matter, would ever. Even if her nest decided they didn't want her, she would always be welcome in his. Brave, resourceful, clever, selfless…? What nest wouldn't want her?

000

Hiccup didn't know why she had just started rambling so much to Toothless, but she knew she felt much better for it. She had been keeping all those feelings bottled up for so long, and now that she was letting them all out to someone she knew she could trust to listen and tell no one else, Hiccup felt a great weight had been lifted from her mind. Suddenly, however, Toothless did something strange. Bending his head forward and around, he began to croon, purr, and nuzzle her.

"Toothless?" Hiccup asked confused as to why the Night Fury was doing this, but she didn't tell him to stop. It actually felt nice, and even a little comforting. It was like he was saying she wasn't all those things she had always been told she was, and that he was there, and he would truly care for her. Hiccup didn't know if that's what her new friend was saying, but it didn't matter; that's what it felt like. Hiccup curled around his head, and it was sort of like they were hugging. Hiccup nuzzled in return, and even found a purr surprisingly escape her vocal chords. She hadn't known she was capable of making that sound, and had no idea what it meant, but it seemed to encourage Toothless to purr and nuzzle her more.

They sat like that for a bit, just hugging one another, until Hiccup noticed how high the sun was in the sky.

* * *

**Hope you liked the extended scene. I find it sweet.**

**Please Review.**


	8. New Tails, New Discoveries, New Fame

**Lots of added scenes in this one.**

* * *

_**New Tails, New Discoveries, New Fame:**_

Hiccup looked up from where she and Toothless were sort of hugging, and she gasped at the sight of the sky.

"Oh no!" Hiccup exclaimed. Toothless uncurled around her seeming confused as to the rush as Hiccup jumped up, and grabbed her still damp cloak and vest shrugging them on as quick as possible. "I'm sorry, Toothless but I have to go. I'll explain everything later. Promise." As she then began to run out, she spot the eel she'd thrown away. "And I think I'll just take this with me. Who knows", Hiccup shrugged, "Could come in handy?"

Toothless warbled questioningly gesturing with his head to the basket that once housed fish, and then to her, before beginning to make that choking sound again.

"Oh, no no no, bud! It's alright", she assured as she continued her way out walking backwards. "I ate on the way here." Hiccup then turned around and ran out. "Bye! I'll be back later!"

Hiccup ran as fast as her feet could carry her hoping she wouldn't be late again, but of course the gods never let her have her way. When Hiccup entered, Gobber was splitting everyone into groups of two or three.

"Oh look, looks like Useless decided to finally join us. Lucky us", Snotlout sneered.

Hiccup huffed out of breath. "I was just, uh, busy", she directed to Gobber. "With something… And, lost track of time."

"Busy?" Aric questioned. "With what?" He sounded very accusatory, and Hiccup began to feel panicked. What did he see? When? Oh gods, did he know about Toothless?! About her?!

"Uh, well, you see, I, uh―"

"It doesn't matter what you were busy with", Gobber said. "Just get over here and grab a bucket. You're with Fishlegs."

Hiccup did so without question.

"Hi", Fishlegs meekly greeted when she stood beside him.

"Hi", she responded.

"Alright", Gobber began. "Today is about teamwork", he said and when a lever was pulled opening a cage, green gas spread across the arena. "Work together and you might survive. Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire; the Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, while the other one lights it. Your job is to know which is which."

000

As the gas engulfed the arena it cut their sight from each other except for the group member, or members, assigned to them. They all waited and listened for the dragon.

Fishlegs was muttering to himself as he and Hiccup stood back to back. "Razor sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, crushing its victims in its—"

"Will you stop that?!" Hiccup shouted in a hushed voice becoming freaked out.

Snotlout, Tuffnut and Aric were moving nervously through the fog standing back to back to back. Snotlout, just as Fishlegs, was singing and muttering things to himself to calm his nerves, although he'd never admit it. "If that dragon shows either of its faces I'm gonna―There!" Seeing the shape in the fog the three boys threw their water at it, only to realize it was the girls.

"Hey!" Astrid shouted.

"It's us idiots!" Ruffnut also reprimanded.

"Your butts must be getting bigger; we thought you were a dragon" Tuffnut joked.

"Not that there's anything wrong with a dragoness figure…" Snotlout tried to add in. It was responded with a punch to his face courtesy of Astrid.

"Nope, pretty sure there's something wrong with that", Aric stated in a joke like manner as Snotlout went down. Suddenly, Tuffnut was pulled into the gas screaming, and Aric was about to go help when Astrid stopped him.

"Wait", she said extending an arm in front of him. They all froze, and after only a moment, a tail came and swept them all off their feet causing the girls' buckets to spill.

000

Hiccup saw the spilled water along with Fishlegs, and out of the fog came Tuffnut running. "Oh I am hurt, I am very much hurt!" he exclaimed. They were now the only ones left.

"Chances of survival are dwindling to single digits now…" Fishlegs said worriedly.

A Zippleback head snaked out of the fog, and frightened, Fishlegs threw his bucket of water at it. Gas came out of his mouth, and the dragon's second head peaked out of the fog with light sparks coming from his mouth.

"Oh. Wrong head." The dragon sprayed his gas at Fishlegs and he ran in a panic. Now Hiccup was left and it was up to her to throw her water at the correct head.

"Now Hiccup!" Gobber shouted.

Hiccup listened and threw her arms up, only for the water to fall short and come back down on her. "Oh come on", she said soaked again. The dragon then lunged towards her and she fell back tripping over her feet.

"Hiccup!" her mentor yelled in fear for her life. But Hiccup didn't fear. Instead, she remained confident, because now she had a new secret weapon; a little something she liked to call knowledge.

The dragon snaked closer, but as soon as he smelled the eel hidden under her vest, the Zippleback reared back just as she suspected. Using this to her advantage, Hiccup stood up and put her hands out towards the dragon.

"Back!" she ordered standing up, and the dragon backed away. "Back, dragon, back! Now don't you make me tell you again!" With each step she took towards the dragon, he moved further and further back towards his cage. "Yes, that's right, into your cage!" she said strongly as he entered the cage and pressed himself against the far wall. "Now think about what you've done", she said and she threw the eel in there keeping the dragon pressed against the wall trying to get as far away from the slimy creature as possible. "I'll come back for it later", she then kindly whispered quietly, knowing he'd hear, before shutting the doors to his cage.

Turning around, Hiccup found everyone staring at her in utter shock, Fishlegs dropping the bucket he was holding. Gobber looked at her with what looked like shock mixed with excitement and happiness. Hiccup wiped off the slime from the eel acting as if she was just brushing dirt off of her, but then became a little uncomfortable with everyone's stares.

"Okay, so are we done?" she broke the silence. "Because…I've got some things I need to…" She made a break for it. "Yep, see you tomorrow!"

* * *

As Gobber headed home from the evening meeting with the recruits that Hiccup again missed, he walked by the forge and noticed there was a light coming from the back. Hiccup must have forgotten, working on something. It wasn't uncommon―once the girl had her mind set on something it took a miracle to get her away from it―but he decided to check on her anyway. Her performance in the ring was unlike anything he'd ever seen. She'd commanded that dragon back, and it listened as if it truly feared her. He needed to know if Hiccup even knew what she did, on top of how she felt about it. He needed to make sure she was okay. He entered the forge and headed to the back where her little private work room sat.

"Hiccup?" he called in before pulling the certain. Inside he found a cloakless Hiccup pushing some papers into a book as if trying to hide something. That was odd. He hadn't seen her take her cloak off in years. "What're you up to?"

"Nothing", Hiccup said unconvincingly. She was obviously up to something, but he wouldn't push her. Besides, there were more important matters to discuss at the moment. "Right. Well, I just wanted to come by and say a congratulations in the ring today. Quite an amazing feat. But, you sure you're alright, lass? You ran off so fast I could've sworn you were spooked."

"I'm fine, Gobber", Hiccup told him. "Great even. I think I finally found something I'm good at."

"Ah, and what's that?" Gobber asked.

"Let's just say… You were right", she answered, and Gobber felt proud Hiccup was finally coming into her own. He had no idea what caused this sudden change overnight, but he supposed that wasn't important. Hiccup was happy, and that's all that really mattered.

000

When Gobber was gone, Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief and removed the black cloak that was covering her unfinished work. If he had seen she was making a saddle for a dragon, things could have gone very differently. When she had returned to Toothless earlier that afternoon, she experimented quite a bit with Toothless' prosthetic, but how Toothless was going to control his new left tail fin was a question that stumped her. In the end, it was decided that she'd control it for him, and while Toothless didn't know what a saddle was, he didn't seem too opposed to the idea of being ridden.

Hiccup continued her work on the saddle, even bolting at the end of training the next day so she could finish it, and when it was done, she went straight to the cove remembering to also bring Toothless some lunch as she hadn't gone to bring him breakfast.

Presenting the saddle, Toothless looked excited, but maybe a bit too exited as he then decided now would be a good time to play chase. It was like he was saying, 'gotta catch me first!' before playfully running off.

"Hey!" she exclaimed before chasing after him.

When she finally did catch him, or more so Toothless had mercy on her, Hiccup secured the saddle and rope into place. Once set, she took the end of the rope that wasn't attached to the tail, and with Toothless kneeling down for her giving permission, she hopped on. She wasn't on for long, however, for while in the air she tugged too hard on the rope throwing Toothless off balance. Hiccup tumbled off with the sudden jolt, and the two landed back in the lake.

The next day, Hiccup came back with a little modification. A new harness for her and a hook for the saddle for the harness to hook onto. She also looped the rope around her ankle this time. With these modifications, she and Toothless made it out of the cove and into the forest, but Hiccup still found it hard to control Toothless wobbling as she yanked her ankle trying to move the fin.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Hiccup yelled, as Toothless roared in surprise, when she pulled the tail fin open too wide crashing them into a field of tall grass. Despite the harness, Hiccup tumbled off further into the grass, her head feeling fuzzy and strange all of a sudden. It couldn't have been from the fall though; it was a good kind of fuzzy. Then she swore she heard Toothless croon and purr like he was in complete and utter bliss. When she turned around and pushed some of the grass away, Hiccup found Toothless rolling around in the grass on his back like a puppy and Hiccup almost felt compelled to do the same. But she didn't, the need to know what was going on stronger than the urge to let this strange overwhelming feeling take her. Taking some of the grass into her hand, Hiccup sniffed it, and that did it for her. She collapsed onto her back, her wings spreading across the grass, tail wagging through it, and purrs escaping her throat for the second time since meeting Toothless. Coming back to herself a bit, Hiccup stared at the bit of grass in her hand. Through the fuzziness, she figured it was kind of like cat nip but for dragons.

'_Dragon Nip__'_, her mind called it, and after the effects wore off decided to bring some to training the next morning wondering if it would work for other species as well. After all, Night Furies seemed to be more cat like in nature; it could've just had an effect on them.

When that day came they were fighting the Gronckle, and after headbutting Tuffnut away, the dragon charged straight at her. Hoping the plant would work, Hiccup stuck her fist full of nip out, and when she opened her eyes, found the dragon belly first on the ground, eyes dilated. Hiccup then rubbed the dragon's snout with the stuff causing the Gronckle to topple over onto her side, her leg kicking out like a dog, and Hiccup could hear the awe from the villagers outside the arena that came to watch the supposed blossoming heiress. Gothi looked more intrigued than anything else. However, while this attention felt great, it also seemed to be a hindrance. After training, the teens minus Aric were following her wanting to know how she made the Gronckle do what she did, but Hiccup knew very well she couldn't do that. And how was she going to get to Toothless if they all kept surrounding and following her like lost puppies? Question after question, after question…

_'Come on, Hiccup. Think of something.'_

"Oh, you know what?" Hiccup suddenly blurted out. "I…I…left my ax in the ring", she backed up. "Y-you guys go on ahead!" she began to run off.

"Woah!" Aric exclaimed when she almost suddenly ran into him, Hiccup dodging around.

"I'll catch up with ya!" Hiccup finished before bolting as fast as she could.

**000**

**"Rocks by the lake"**, Toothless said slowly testing Hiccup on the words she learned that day.

"Rocks…by the… the… lake", Hiccup repeated.

Toothless crooned excitedly and Hiccup smiled.

000

Hiccup was searching for Toothless as they played hide and seek, listening and watching very carefully. Since she began ditching her cloak every time she came to the cove, Hiccup found she had quite an amazing hearing range. Her ear twitched, a sound heard. She turned to a boulder near the wall and caught sight of a black mismatched finned tail peaking out.

"Aha!" she exclaimed pouncing on Toothless before beginning to try and tickle him.

At first, it was like teasing and tickling a little brother, but pretty soon when she reached his neck and head, he seemed to be enjoying himself. So, Hiccup continued to scratch Toothless' scales there, the dragon enjoying every second of it. She moved her hand to a spot under his chin, and suddenly his legs gave out underneath him completely relaxed. Hiccup looked at her hands in fascination finding another incredible calming agent, and it was nothing more than her bare hands.

The following morning, when they were fighting with the Deadly Nadder again, the dragon ran towards Hiccup, and she immediately dropped her ax. The dragon stopped looking at her curiously, probably trying figure out why this tiny human had dropped her weapon, when Hiccup spot Aric charging to strike. Hiccup quickly scratched the Nadder trying to find the sweet spot, and found it just in time. The dragon fell, and Aric looked at her dumbfounded, before grunting and walking away seeming to be quite…upset.

000

At the Great Hall for lunch, Hiccup sat at her usual empty table, but as soon as she sat down Astrid along with what seemed to be everyone in the hall went to join her. Everyone wanted to know Hiccup's secret, and Astrid really needed to know how Hiccup pacified that Nadder; it was incredible. All surrounded Hiccup except for her brother, Aric. Instead, he stayed put and slammed his cup on the table with fury. Astrid looked to him with worry in her eyes. As of late, she'd been hearing him pacing in his room, muttering things to himself. He was mad; furious even. And that could be dangerous. Really dangerous.

* * *

Hiccup was with Toothless once again, and she had brought her tools this time to tweak the prosthetic's new mechanisms. Work turned into play, however, when Hiccup noticed Toothless' eyes following the light reflected off her hammer. She went behind a rock, the light disappearing for a few short seconds, but them Hiccup made it reappear, and made it move, the little light causing Toothless to pounce and chase it like a cat. This went on for a few minutes until Hiccup couldn't contain her laughter anymore. She burst into a fit of giggles, and in Hiccup's state of hilarity she didn't notice Toothless coming at her until it was too late. Toothless tackled her and pinned her to the ground in playful anger.

**000**

"Hahaha—Ah!" Hiccup cried when he pounced on her in revenge for her trickery. "Toothless, get off me!" she tried escaping, but it wasn't a very convincing cry, so Toothless just stood there until he felt she'd been punished enough.

* * *

Their next opponent was a new dragon they hadn't been introduced to yet, and Aric had to make sure he defeated it this time. He needed to win that honor.

"Meet the Terrible Terror", Gobber said, referring to the tiny green dragon that had just been let out.

Everyone's guards were brought down, and Tuffnut even laughed at it. "Ha, it's like the size of my—Ah, get it off! Get it off!" The Terror pounced on Tuff, clawing and biting his face. And just when Aric was going to tear that dragon off, Hiccup saved Tuffnut by catching the little dragon's attention with a light reflecting off her shield.

_'How did she know that would work?'_ Aric confusingly wondered.

"Oh I am hurt! I am very much hurt!" Tuffnut shouted as she led the dragon back to its cage, and put her foot over the small door flap trapping him inside. She looked back at everyone sheepishly, and Aric steamed from where he stood.

"She's better then you ever were", Tuffnut, getting up, exclaimed to him, and it only made his frustration worse. Later that day, he went into the forest to blow off steam throwing his ax into every tree he laid his eyes on. His sister beating him, Aric could handle; she had been training for this just as much as he had. But for Hiccup to suddenly just become so good was confusing and frustrating. He was glad she was taking it seriously now, but this was unheard of. He felt like he couldn't make up his mind. He was fascinated, dumbfounded, frustrated, confused, angry, a whirlwind of emotions, and they all just made him all the more furious.

She had to be cheating. It was the only explanation. Or maybe she was training with someone and that's why she was coming to these woods everyday; that's why she disappeared every afternoon. Aric let his ax fly into the bark in a fit of rage. NO! He wasn't gonna let some girl just suddenly waltz in, no matter how cute she was, and cheat her way into taking the honor that was rightfully his.

As if on cue, as he was just about to throw his ax at another tree, Hiccup appeared in front of him carrying that strange bundle in her arms again. He couldn't tell what it was, but he did notice Hiccup looked shocked, very nervous, and maybe even scared; it might have been from the fact he was just about to throw an ax at her, but he knew that's not what it was. Hiccup jogged off and Aric followed. He had tried following her a few times now trying to figure out the puzzle, but he always managed to lose her every time. It happened again as he came to the bolder she had just run behind, and he hit his fist on the rock in frustration; it was like she just disappeared.

000

Hiccup was relieved when she lost Aric. For the last few days he'd been following her into the forest, and while Hiccup couldn't fathom why, she didn't much care as long as he never found out her secrets. It was the reason she never took her cloak off in the forest, instead doing so when she reached the cove. Anyone could be out in the woods and see her. But, he had seen her with Toothless' new tail fin, and was no doubt suspicious. It might have been why he was following her in the first place; maybe he had seen it before. And she thought she was being so careful. At least he didn't know where she was going and Toothless was still safe; that was all that really mattered in the end.

When she reached the cove, she put the final design of Toothless' saddle, harness, and tail fin on, and they went to a hill where she had set a wooden poll earlier. She tied a rope to the poll and then to Toothless; the purpose of this was to figure out the different positions of the tail fin labeling each one by a number for future reference.

Hiccup sat in the saddle, her tail lying straight on Toothless' body parallel, and they began. Toothless lightly hopped off the ground, the wind catching his wings, and Hiccup clicked the tail into a position. Closing the fin again, Toothless landed and she drew and labeled the position. Hiccup had Toothless do it again, but just as Toothless hopped up, a gust of wind came and broke the rope holding them in place flying them backwards. Toothless rolled back over to his feet, and as he did Hiccup was tugged along; she pulled on the harness keeping her attached to Toothless, and confirmed it was stuck.

"Oh, great", she muttered.

They waited until night, Toothless spending the time giving her another lesson, and then went into the village so that Hiccup could grab the tool she needed to separate herself from him. As much as she loved the dragon she didn't want to be stuck to him forever.

She now wore her cloak once again, and as they entered the village she hoped no one would see her dragon in the darkness. They paused at a house, Toothless hiding behind it when a Viking passed by saying a quick hello and she waved in kind. He didn't see Toothless, so that was good. She checked to make sure no one else was around, and when she didn't see anyone pulled Toothless along to the forge with her. Once there, she quickly found the tool she needed and tried to quickly detach herself from the dragon. Unfortunately, someone noticed the noise Toothless was making as he investigated some of the bins.

"Hiccup? You in there?" Aric's voice called, because of course it was Aric.

Startled, Hiccup dropped the tool and popped out of the window closing the doors behind her so he wouldn't see her dragon. "Aric! Hey! Hi…Aric. Aric, hi."

"I normally don't care what people do―"

_'Except when it comes to me, evidently.'_

"―but you've been acting weird", he accused.

Hiccup was pulled by Toothless causing it to look like she stumbled backwards for no reason, but Hiccup still tried to play it cool.

"Well…weirder."

Toothless then kept pulling and pulling, making her float in midair against the wooden doors of the window until she was finally pulled through. Before Aric could even register what happened, though, she and Toothless were already out with the tool they needed and racing to the cove. It was the closest call Hiccup had ever experienced, and when Hiccup arrived back to their secluded space she let out the breath she'd been holding. If Aric wasn't suspicious before, he sure was now, and Hiccup wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to keep Toothless a secret from him.

* * *

**Oh boy. But look on the bright side, Hic. Next week, you'll be on your very first flight. Won't that be something.**

**Hope you liked! Don't forget to review. And if you have any questions I'll be happy to try and answer for you.**


	9. Test Drive

_**Test Drive:**_

It had been about a month since they left, and the fleet was finally returning. Well, what was left of the fleet, actually. And what two ships did survive were barely intact. Sails were torn, chunks of wood were missing; it was a wonder anyone made it home. It should have been a given that Stoick wouldn't be in the mood for jokes and teasing, but that never stopped his old friend.

"So, I trust you found the nest at least", Gobber said as Stoick got off what was left of his ship.

"Not even close", he said bitterly.

"Ah, excellent."

Gobber took his basket from him as they walked up the ramps of the docks.

"I hope you had more success than me?" Stoick then asked, wondering how Hiccup was fairing.

"Well if by success, you mean that your parenting troubles are over with, then…yes", Gobber said, and Stoick stopped his tracks.

"What?" he said frightened of what that could possibly mean, his mind going to the worst scenarios, and the villagers passing by weren't helping.

"Congratulations, Stoick! Everyone is so relieved."

"Out with the old and in with the new, right?"

"No one will miss that old nuisance."

"The village is throwing a party to celebrate!"

Stoick, stunned not only by his people, couldn't take it any longer; he had to know. "She's…gone?"

"Yeah… Most afternoons", Gobber said, and that in itself relieved Stoick a bit. His little girl was alive. "Ah, but who can blame her?" he then continued. "I mean the life of a celebrity is very rough. She can barely walk through the village without being swarmed by her new fans."

"Hiccup?" Stoick stopped him. Was Gobber sure he was talking about the right child?

"It's nothing like you've ever seen. Like, she has this _way _with the beasts; almost like she can control them. It's what you've always dreamed but better."

Stoick was shocked. He couldn't believe what Gobber just said. He had actually done it. Pride filled his heart, Stoick couldn't wait to see Hiccup. At last, she would finally be a true Viking.

* * *

On a cliff was where Hiccup and Toothless stood. Hiccup was in the saddle, her feet on the pedals, the left one being the important one, and semi ready for an official test flight. Today was the day Toothless would fly again. At least, she hoped.

"Ready bud?" Hiccup asked.

**"Yes!" **Toothless crooned excitedly, and then ran and jumped off the cliff, his wings spread out to catch the air. So far the tail was working, but right now they were more gliding than flying.

"Alright, bud. Let's take this nice and slow", she said patting his side. "Here we go. Here we go." Looking down at her cheat sheet secured in front of the saddle, she made sure she knew which position to switch to. "Eh, position three. No, four." After switching to position four, they made their first wide right turn. It was as smooth as could be, and Toothless beat his wings a little faster in excitement before leveling out again. Hiccup looked back at the tail fin, and seeing that it looked fine she decided it was go time.

"Okay, bud. Let's do this", she said and leaned forward into the saddle. Taking the cue, Toothless flew down till he was skimming the ocean's surface. The feeling of the air whipping passed them was like nothing Hiccup had ever known, and something washed over her. This feeling of freedom and belonging; like this was her element. She felt the urge to spread her wings, and not even fighting it for a second she listened. It was the first time in her entire life that Hiccup felt air underneath her wings. It was incredible; indescribable. It was freedom, but so much more; a feeling that had no words. She felt like… a dragon? Was this what being a dragon meant? To have the feeling of the entire world at your fingertips? Or, claw tips?

They passed under an arch, seeing birds flying by. Hiccup leaned in wanting to go faster. Then a sea stack came in their path, but going faster might have been a mistake as Hiccup didn't react in time, and Toothless crashed right into it.

"Sorry!" she apologized.

Not even a second later she did it again.

"My fault."

Toothless slapped her cheek with his ear.

**"Focus!"** he told her.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry, I'm on it. Position four. Uh, three."

She pulled on the saddle telling Toothless to fly higher and Hiccup beat her wings with him. They were a little off time with each other, but Hiccup didn't really care; she just wanted to know the feeling and wondered what actually flying felt like. Higher and higher they flew, the air getting thinner, but Hiccup not caring. It didn't seem to affect her anyway.

"This is amazing!" she shouted. "The wind in my―" her cheat sheet flew out of its hold. "―Cheat Sheet! STOP!"

She reached out for it grabbing the paper before it became out of reach, but thinking it an order directed at him, Toothless stopped.

Hiccup didn't.

Due to the momentum, Hiccup kept going, and her harness unhooked. She was thrown out of the saddle in mid-flight.

"AHHHH!" Hiccup screamed as she was falling out of the sky. "OH GODS! OH NO!"

**"FLY!" **Toothless roared at her, falling right behind her.

"I can't! I never learned!"

Eyes widening, Toothless began to uncontrollably try and right himself to get under her, and Hiccup tried helping him by attempting to calm him and tell him what to do, the dragon now scared and frantic.

"It's alright, Toothless, it's alright! You just gotta kinda angle yourself― No, no, come back down towards me! Come back down—Ow!" In his sudden downwards spiral he'd gone into, he hit her with his tail.

Knowing they didn't have much time left before they hit the ground, Hiccup put the cheat sheet into her mouth, and tried to angle herself towards Toothless, spreading her wings out a bit. Gliding over, she was able to reach the handles of the saddle, pull herself into it, spread her wings wide, and pull Toothless up with all her might. Toothless came out of his dive just in time, spreading his wings out and skidding over the trees, but the danger wasn't over yet as they were quickly coming to a maze of sea stacks. Hiccup tried to look at the cheat sheet to know what positions to use, but she couldn't read it as it flapped in the wind.

Time was running out, though; there was no time to try to read it. Finally, she decided on throwing it away, and again, for the first time in her entire life, trust her instincts; all of them. She directed Toothless to go in, and as they evaded crashing into every stack she moved with him somehow knowing what position the tail fin needed to be in and when. She didn't even think about it; just felt. When they made it out, Hiccup was panting from the anxiety that had filled her, but now that anxiety was replaced with ecstatic joy.

"YEAH!" Hiccup shouted with her wings tucked back in and her arms raised in victory. She felt so invigorated and alive. Toothless then shot a plasma blast that exploded in front of them. "Oh, come on", her victory depleted, and her arms and wings flopped down before going through the flames, Hiccup forgetting she could've used her wings to protect herself.

* * *

That evening, Hiccup decided to have dinner with Toothless on the beach—one where no Viking would find them of course. He had a pile of different fish to feast upon while she had one deciding to have it raw, not really caring to build a fire tonight; she'd had enough fire for one day. Her hair was standing up funny and her cloths were singed thanks to Toothless' victory blast, but Hiccup wasn't too mad at him. He was like an annoying brother; he could piss her off at times, but she still loved him and couldn't stay mad forever.

For the umpteenth time, Toothless hacked up half his fish for her again; she really couldn't understand why. Was it some kind of regular practice among dragon packs? Why did he have to insist on sharing?

"Uh…ya no, I'm good", she declined referring to her own fish in her hands. Toothless seemed to accept it.

A group of Terrible Terrors then flew onto the beach, eyeing Toothless' pile, and Toothless growled lowly pulling his food closer to him.

**"…Fish! Fish! Fish!"**, she could hear the little dragons screeching excitedly. But, Toothless wasn't very happy with the Terrors wanting to take his food.

**"Mine****. … your … food!****"** he growled at them, although her understanding was still broken. She could always catch some words, but others were either lost 'cause she was still learning and Toothless was too fast, or she didn't know them yet. Nevertheless, she guessed Toothless was telling the Terrors to get their own food.

One Terror snatched up the half of a fish Toothless had offered to Hiccup, and Toothless let her take it, a third Terror then trying to take it from her; the Terror promptly stopped him, though, by shooting at him. Then a fish popped out of Toothless' pile, and he looked confusingly at the walking fish, Hiccup giggling at the sight, until the Terror moved out from the pile, revealing himself. Toothless quickly snatched the other end of the almost stolen fish and after a not-so-fair game of tug of war, ate it right in front of the Terror, laughing smugly.

The Terror was clearly insulted, spitting out the tail piece he was left with, and trying to look threatening as he stomped closer to Toothless, preparing to blast him in the face, only for Toothless to shoot a very small plasma blast in the Terror's mouth. The small match was over and the Terror was left defeated.

"Huh, not so fire-proof on the inside, are you? Here you go." Hiccup threw him the rest of her fish, and he perked up, eating it happily. The Terror came towards her as she sat back down, and sat in her lap taking a nap after his meal. She began to pet him, and he seemed to enjoy that. After everything she'd been through with Toothless, after feeling the full extent of her dragon side, and now after seeing this, this little dragon sleeping in her lap as if he were a precious pet dog of hers, Hiccup finally knew for certain where she stood.

"They were wrong... Everything we know about you guys…is wrong", she finally voiced aloud, and knew it to be true.

* * *

Later that night, Hiccup was in her work room. Her cloak was draped over the back of the chair, and as she sat, she thought. This place was a work room, but it was also an escape room; a place to think or hide. After what happened today, Hiccup felt like a new person. Even though Toothless had made her more comfortable in her scales, she had still been holding back, only inching towards letting her dragon side free. But today, that all changed, and it felt amazing. Every sense, every urge and instinct, she followed and trusted, and it saved her and Toothless' lives. She always thought they would ruin it, but they did the opposite. She felt the same, yet different all the same time; she still wasn't over it.

But that wasn't why she needed the space to think. A subject had been plaguing Hiccup's mind for a while, and especially now did Hiccup feel completely conflicted. Dragon Training. She was excelling with her little tricks, but if she kept it up she'd be the one chosen to kill the Monstrous Nightmare. It was the one dragon they weren't allowed to train with because of the reservation.

She knew could never do that; she didn't want to do that. Of course the dragons did raid them and had killed many people in her tribe―that was an issue she'd have to sort out―but what gave Vikings the right to kill dragons just for acting on instinct and trying to survive? As far as she was concerned, none.

_'But, then again, Vikings are just trying to survive too.'_

_'But this is too far. These dragons did nothing.'_

_'Then again, they were all captured in raids, and that Nightmare was the one that tried to kill me.'_

_'But he was probably just scared and saw me as a threat! And now he's being used for some "honor" to be the first dragon the winner kills? He's being used like some object. They all are.'_

Her mind was at complete war with herself, going back and forth between everything she'd known, and everything she knew now. She never felt more conflicted. Hiccup knew this was wrong, but what could she do? It was clear she wasn't going to be able to kill the dragon, so maybe she could just forfeit and hand the honor to Aric, but then what of the dragon? Could she really just let him perish?

Her head went down on the desk in frustration and confusion, her fingers then beginning to fiddle with a pencil, flicking it up then watching it roll down back to her. As she did this action, she also began to hum a song her father once said her mother would sing to her as a baby. It always made her feel a little better whenever she felt lost or sad, or both. The hum, however, soon turned into words being softly sung.

_"A__lways reaching out in vain__. __J__ust taking the things not worth having, but—" _

Stoick came through the door.

"Dad! You're back!" Hiccup exclaimed frantically trying to push the drawings of Toothless and his prosthetic that she had all over her desk from view. At least Gobber had given her a little time before he barged in. "Gobber's not here, so…"

"I know. I came looking for you", he said looking stern.

"You did?" she asked getting nervous.

"You've been keeping secrets."

"I…have?" Her heart began to race. _'Oh Thor, __what __does he know?!'_

"Just how long did you think you could hide it from me?"

"I don't know what you're—"

_"Nothing_ happens on this island without me knowing about it."

At this point Hiccup's tail was between her legs and ears as flattened as can be in complete and utter terror for her dragon, best friend, and honorary brother.

"Oh?" she frightfully muttered.

"So, let's talk. About that dragon."

Hiccup's face turned white. _'Oh __Gods__ it's true__! __H__e found out about Toothless! __But h__ow?!__ Aric? Did he find out and tell my dad?!__'_

"Oh gods", Hiccup nearly choked. "Dad, I am so sorry. I was going to tell you, really. I-I just didn't know how—"

Suddenly, in the middle of her panicked apology, her father began to laugh like he told some great joke, and Hiccup looked up at him as if he was crazy.

"You're not…upset?" she asked confused.

"What?!" he exclaimed in a tone of joy. "I was hoping for this!"

"Uh, you…were?" Hiccup was beginning to think this wasn't about Toothless.

"And believe me it only gets better. Just wait 'til you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time! And mount your first Gronckle head on a spear? What a feeling!" Her father exclaimed again.

"You really had me going there, dear. All those years of the worst Viking Berk has ever seen! Odin, it was rough. I almost gave up on ya! And all the while, you were holding out on me! Oh Thor almighty, I knew it!"

Hiccup's tail went limp, her ears down in sadness, despite her face trying not to reveal her emotions. She should have been happy. After all, her father didn't know about Toothless, and she had his pride for her. But he was proud of the wrong girl. The girl he was proud of didn't really exist.

Her father grabbed a stool and took a seat. "Ahhh, with that nasty demon half of you gone, we finally have something to talk about", he said, and then looked to her expectantly.

But what could she say when those words only made her feel worse? Sure, it's what she had felt not too long ago, but now she liked her dragon half; in some ways, even embraced it, only recently doing so fully. She hadn't felt shame or anger towards that side of her in weeks, and now she realized that her father was probably the one to put those feelings of shame, anger, and fear in her in the first place. He thought she was a demon; maybe he really only thought it was one part of her, sure, but that side of her still made up who she was, so in reality, he was saying_ she_ was a demon. He had wanted the demon gone and in its place a strong Viking; he didn't want Hiccup, and the realization made Hiccup feel awful. Her father never loved her. He only loved what he wanted her to become. And now he thought he got his wish, when he couldn't be any more wrong. She almost felt like she wanted to cry, but she didn't. What would it help anyway?

"Oh, I…brought you something" her father broke the silence presenting a horned helmet. "To keep you safe in the ring."

Hiccup took the helmet and looked it over, still hurt, but touched he had actually given her such a gift. "Wow…thanks."

"Your mother would have wanted you to have it. It's half of her breast plate."

Suddenly disturbed, Hiccup stopped touching the top portion of the helmet with her hand.

"Matching set", he said tapping his own helmet. "Keeps her close, you know?"

Grimacing, and even more disturbed, she slowly placed the helmet onto her desk.

"Wear it proudly. You deserve it. You've held up your end of the deal."

"Wait. What?"

"If you manage to be chosen tomorrow, after the match between you and that Nightmare, we'll reveal to the village what it is you've been hiding under that cloak of yours all these years. A deal's a deal."

"And…if I'm not chosen?" she asked slowly.

"Well, then we'll just reveal it to the village anyway. It won't be as grand and special, but Aric is a tough lad to beat. Just try your best; I have no doubt you'll be the one to win."

After he said that he left, and Hiccup was stunned at her father's show of love and support. If only it wasn't for a daughter who didn't exist.

* * *

**For new comers, the song is Don't Worry About a ****Thing by Tori Kelly from Sing. The movie version, not soundtrack, as its supposed to be slow like a lullaby.**


	10. Romance Amongst a Traitor

_**Romance Amongst a Traitor:**_

Hiccup and Aric were up against the Gronckle again for their final assessment. There were small wooden walls placed in the ring and Hiccup was hiding behind one of them with her shield and ax trying her very best not to win. Instead of wearing her hood, she wore her helmet to cover her ears; it was just big enough with her tiny head.

Aric came by to where she sat, and while he didn't seem to notice her at first, when he did, that angry look of his returned to his features. "Stay out of my way. I'm winning this thing", he told her in a very threatening tone, then rushed off to the next wall.

"Good, please. By all means", she called out. _'I'd love nothing more.'_

Hiccup stood up, shield and ax in hand, and turned to the crowd where her dad stood looking as proud as could be. She did her best to smile as she fixed her slipping helmet, but it quickly turned into a look of uninterest. Gods did she hope she lost.

000

Meanwhile Aric was sneaking his way up to the Gronkle preparing to strike. He paused behind a barrier.

"This time. This time, for sure", he assured himself.

Then he released a battle cry, jumping over wall after wall, but abruptly stopped when he saw the Gronckle already downed. Hiccup's weapons were dropped, and she was in a cowardly position, but the Gronckle was on the floor rolled over nonetheless.

"NO! Ugh! SON OF A HALF-TROLL RAT EATING...MUNGE BUCKET!" he yelled absolutely infuriated. HOW?! How in the name of all that is sacred did Hiccup subdue the dragon that fast?! It was impossible! It didn't make any sense! There was no logical explanation!

Gothi tapped her staff three times stopping Aric's raging thoughts, and gained everyone's attention.

000

"So…later", Hiccup said trying to sneak away, but Gobber yanked her back with his hook.

"Up, not so fast."

"Uh, but I'm kinda late for…"

Aric caught her neck with his ax. "What?! Late for _what _exactly?!" He almost looked crazy.

She luckily didn't have to answer, and was saved from nearly being decapitated, when her father spoke.

"Okay, quiet down! The elder has decided!" he announced.

Gobber stood behind the two teens and pointed to Aric, Hiccup praying she'd nod, but Gothi shook her head instead. Aric looked like he was about to have another melt down, but dread filled Hiccup for another reason beyond Aric possibly killing her. In all honestly, she'd probably prefer it. Gobber pointed to Hiccup, Gothi nodded a yes, and if looks could kill she would have been dead right where she stood when she saw the look Aric gave her.

Everyone else, however, were ecstatic. Gobber was jumping up and down like a child on Snoggletog morning and hugging her by his hooked hand.

"Oh, you've done it Hiccup! You get to kill the dragon!" he shouted out.

It was as if her and Aric were the only ones unhappy with the decision.

"Ha, ha! That's my girl!" her dad shouted in praise.

The teens began to surround her, and Fishlegs picked her up having her sit on his shoulder, Hiccup moving her tail into her lap very quickly so he wouldn't feel it down his back. Then in an attempt to mask her panic, Hiccup tried to fake celebratory cries, but it came out very unenthusiastic and quite dry. It was lucky nobody noticed.

"Heh, heh. Oh Yeah! Yes! I can't wait, I am so...excited."

000

As everyone celebrated, Aric stood behind determined to figure out what was going on. There was no way she took down that Gronckle so fast without him even seeing it. He left, racing into the forest, and dead set on finding out where Hiccup went everyday.

He wandered the forest a bit, looking closely for any tracks or clues. That's when he noticed a rather worn path, as if someone trekked down it so often that no grass or plants could grow.

"Gotcha", he muttered, and followed it.

* * *

"I am so…leaving", Hiccup said when she reached the cove. "We're leaving bud! Let's pack up; looks like you and me are taking a little vacation. Forever." When she finally was able to escape everyone, Hiccup had packed all her things up and came to the cove sure it'd be her last time. She didn't see Toothless, so she put her load down, took her cloak off, and prepared to leave knowing he'd show up soon. He was most likely just still asleep somewhere.

"Oh man", she breathed, and as she stood up fiddling with her harness, she noticed someone on the rock she put her load against. "Ahh! What the—!" she was startled by Aric, tripping over some stones. _'I'm dead!' _she thought. However, despite the fact that her dragon parts were exposed, and Toothless could arrive any moment, she tried to play off as everything was fine. It wasn't like he'd seen her yet, too busy looking down at his ax as he sharpened it. Why he was sharpening it, though, had her nervous.

"Uh, what…are you doing here?" she asked.

"I want to know what's going on", he said thankfully not looking up, still methodically sharpening as if trying to threaten her by it. "No one gets as good as you do; especially someone with your background. So start talking", he looked up at her. "Are you training with someone?" he accused, then an eyebrow rose when he really looked at her.

Hiccup scrambled.

"Uh, um…tr-training?" she tried to find the words of what to say.

"Oh, it better not involve this?!" he hopped off his perch down towards her. "What even is this? Some sort of stupid dragon costume?!" He pulled at one of her wings, and his eyes widened in realization stepping back. "How…"

"Uh, now― Now I-I know-this looks really bad, but—"

"This is what you've been hiding?" He didn't look at her disgusted like she always thought, just shocked, confused, and pissed off. Then he gasped at something to his right, and moved passed her to check it out. Hiccup knew exactly what he saw.

"Um…yes! Yes, you got me" she ran to block him. "I'm secretly half dragon and I've been coming here to…learn how to fly! My dad and I were gonna tell everyone tomorrow after the dragon kill, and all that, but you caught me…hehe, its time everyone knew…" she slid in front of him spreading out her wings to block his sight of the possible Night Fury behind her, and grabbed his hand placing it on her chest as he tried to see passed her. "…drag me back, here we go…OW!"

Aric bent her hand backwards, and she went down. "Why would you do that?!" She made an attempt to stand up, but he shoved her back down.

"That's for the lies. And that's…" he took the handle of his ax and dropped it on her stomach, "…for everything else."

That's when Toothless chose to appear, a loud warning growl filling the space. "Oh man", Hiccup muttered.

Aric gasped at the sight of Toothless, and just as Hiccup got back up Aric yelled, "Get Down!" tackling her back to the ground.

Toothless ran and lunged at Aric clearly fearing the he was hurting her, and Aric rolled off of Hiccup standing in a defensive position.

"Run! Run!" he yelled as he did so, positioning his ax to strike.

"NO!" she yelled, tackling Aric down instead. She slid Aric's ax away, and positioned herself in between the two males holding her hands out to both of them in the motion of stop.

"It's okay, bud! It's okay…" she turned herself completely to Toothless. With both hands out in a gesture of 'calm down' she reaffirmed by saying, "He's a friend", and after a moment Toothless backed down, though still not happy with Aric's presence.

"You scared him", she turned to Aric next.

"I scared him?! Who? Is him?"

"Aric, Toothless; Toothless, Aric", she introduced.

Toothless' 'hello', however, was more of a snarl saying 'go away', and looking appalled, Aric stepped back and ran out.

"...Duh duh duh, we're dead", Hiccup sung, before turning around and seeing Toothless walk off. "Woah woah woah, where do you think you're going?!" she exclaimed at her much too satisfied brother. She wasn't about to let Aric go and tell everyone she'd been hiding a Night Fury and is part Night Fury herself. It wouldn't exactly look very good.

* * *

Aric was running as fast as he could back to the village. First, he finds out Hiccup is part dragon; that was weird by itself, and raised a ton of questions, but then he finds she's been hiding a Night Fury?! Keeping it as a pet? Either she lost her mind, or she'd been siding with the dragons the entire time. It sort of made sense. Maybe those accidents weren't really accidents and all part of her plan. He had to warn Stoick.

He heard wing beats above him and Aric ran faster, but when he jumped over a large log, he was suddenly grabbed in giant black claws being carried further away from the ground. He screamed and fought, but it was no use. This was it!

Then he was dropped onto a tall tree having to hang onto a branch, and that's when he saw Hiccup riding the Night Fury which landed on the tree. "Hiccup! Get me down from here!" he demanded.

"You have to give me a chance to explain."

"You've been lying to the village for who knows how long now, and you expect me to listen to you?!"

"Then don't. Just…let me show you", she offered her hand to him. He looked the other way, refusing to take it.

"How do I know this isn't a trick? You're a traitor Hiccup!

"I promise you I'm not a traitor. Please Aric", she said, and Aric caved in. It wasn't like there was another way down for him anyway, so he figured he'd trust her enough to bring him down.

Aric pulled himself up, ignoring Hiccup's hand, and climbed onto the beast. "Alright, I'm on. Now get me down."

"Toothless, down. Gently" Hiccup told her dragon with a few pats on the head.

The dragon spread its wings preparing to take off from the tree, and Hiccup turned to him. "See, nothing to worry aboU-OUUUT!"

The dragon suddenly launched into the air, and if Hiccup hadn't caught him by her tail, he would have surely fallen off. Aric screamed in surprise and fear, nonetheless, just from the speed and recklessness of the dragon's flying. Hiccup was trying to reprimand her dragon in the meantime, but it didn't seem to be working.

"Toothless! What is wrong with you?! Bad dragon! Stop! He's not usually like this", she turned around to him nervously. It sounded like it was a lie. Then the dragon leaned to one side.

"Oh no", Hiccup said with no surprise or fear as if knowing what the beast was about to do next. Aric screamed in terror, holding onto Hiccup for dear life when the dragon dropped out of the sky and into the ocean, out, then in again, and out again.

"Toothless, what are you doing? We need him to like us!" It began to spin next, and Hiccup sounded less than amused.

"And now…he's spinning. Thank you for nothing you useless reptile." It almost sounded like she was used to the beast's antics. He dove and span again, and Aric couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just get me off of this thing!" he finally swallowed his pride and pleaded, when suddenly, it all stopped.

No longer feeling like he was going to be thrown out of the sky, Aric opened his eyes and looked up from Hiccup's shoulder. His eyes widened by what he saw. It was incredible; there were pink clouds surrounding them, the world looking like one big endless sky. He felt compelled to touch them, and when he reached up, his hand went right through them; it was wet and airy like mist. He felt like a child leaning back and running his hands though them as the dragon flew on.

They flew until the setting sun passed the horizon and the Northern Lights shun in the night sky. There was a break in the now blue clouds and Aric could see his home of Berk. His eyes widened in amazement at the view. This high up, it looked as if Berk was nothing more than a spec. He looked to Hiccup in front of him. This must have been what she meant by 'show'. But then, he took a closer look at Hiccup. She looked so calm and happy. She looked content, like nothing was weighing her down. It was so different from how he usually saw her in the village; always weighed down, and never with a smile like she had now. No, he realized._ This_ was what she meant by 'show'.

000

Hiccup felt a gentle weight at her back, arms wrap around her, and Hiccup glanced back at Aric who was suddenly hugging her. Hiccup wasn't sure if the embrace meant something or not, but either way, it seemed he trusted her again, and that was more than enough to make her happy.

"Alright, I'll admit it, Hiccup", Aric finally spoke as he let go and sat up. "This is pretty cool. It's…amazing; he's amazing", he said placing a hand on Toothless' side.

Hiccup smiled as hope suddenly didn't feel so lost. If Aric could change his mind, maybe it was possible to convince the village. Maybe she didn't have to leave after all. But still, Hiccup knew that while she may be able to get the other teens and children on board, the adults would be a different story. Her father especially with how they lost her mother.

"So…" Aric began. "How did this whole part dragon thing happen?"

"I'm not sure", Hiccup answered honestly. "I don't even know if my dad knows how; whenever I asked, he'd never tell me a thing. Said it wasn't important."

"Oh." A few moments of silence passed. "So what now?"

Hiccup just sighed. She was going to run away, but with the possibility of convincing Vikings dragons weren't what they always thought they were, she wasn't sure anymore.

"Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're going to have to kill—" He paused and pulled her closer in a whisper as if Toothless wouldn't be able to hear him. "–kill a dragon."

"Don't remind me", Hiccup said, before she suddenly heard a strange noise; a humming sound.

**000**

Looking back to the two on his back now, they didn't seem as happy as before. The boy mentioned that Dragon Training stuff Hiccup had been forced into, and now his sister was upset. Stupid boy.

Pretty soon, however, he heard a sound and his eyes widened. It was the Queen! She was calling everyone back, and he must have gotten close enough to hear it. Quickly, he made a sharp turn to the where the call was coming from accidentally startling Hiccup and her friend.

"Toothless! Wha-what's happening? What's going on? What's that sound?" Hiccup was freaking out, but it all went to the back of his mind.

**"Quiet"**, he ordered her. **"I need to hear." **He needed to go home.

Soon he found the flock, everyone carrying their kills.

"Get down", Hiccup told her friend in a whisper.

**"Where have you been?" **the blue-green Zippleback's spark head said to his left.

**"And what is on your back?"** the gas head added.

**"A human, stupid"**, the spark head answered.

**"No, I mean the human looking creature with scales. But why is there a human on your back too?"**

**"None of your business. The creature is my friend, and the human is hers"**, Toothless answered.

**"The Queen won't like it"**, the purple Nadder warned to his right.

**"I'll talk to her. The human's going back, but I want Hiccup to stay. She said something about leaving earlier; she'll need a new home."**

**"Hiccup. Is that what the humans titled her?"**

**"Yes. She said it's her 'name'. Gave me one too; she calls me Toothless."**

**"Toothless? But you're not toothless?"**

**"I don't always understand her."**

000

The further they seemed to go the stronger the pull felt. Toothless' pupils were slit too; it seemed every dragon's eyes were. Was it some side effect to the call? What did it mean?

"What's going on?" Aric asked.

"I'm not sure. Toothless, you gotta get us out of here bud." She placed her hand on his head, but he pushed it away.

**"I…q****uiet!" **

It was no use. Toothless was going to follow the call to where ever it was coming from, and if she didn't know any better, she'd think the nest. She could see through the thick fog the dragons all had an animal in their claws, all flying in the same direction, but why was Toothless taking them there? There were so many questions, but no time for answers as the dragons went down in a steep dive, leveled out, then turned veering left and right to avoid sea stacks that appeared in the fog, all the while still following that same call.

They came upon a tall volcano, a red glow emanating from the black rock, and Toothless went through a hole to a place filled with rock ledges where dragons sat on. In the middle was deep gigantic hole where all the dragons threw their kill into.

"What my dad wouldn't give to find this", Hiccup said in amazement.

Once they arrived, the call seemed to cease, Toothless and Hiccup's eyes returning to normal, and Toothless landed behind a large rock formation where they could hide.

"Well, it's satisfying to know that all our food has been dumped down a hole", Hiccup sarcastically commented at the dragons' actions.

"They're not eating any of it", Aric also noted.

A Gronckle then came into the nest and hovered over the hole. He opened his mouth and out came a tiny fish. They heard a loud growl emanate from the hole, and the Gronckle looked scared. He started to fly away, but in the next second he was eaten by a giant gray, six small eyed dragon head that popped out from the hole. Hiccup gasped.

"What…is that?" Aric asked just as shocked and fearful as her, and all the dragons seemed to cower in fear as well.

**000**

Toothless waited another moment for the queen to smell him and his guests. You didn't address the queen unless addressed. Especially not after an execution.

**"Night Fury. You've returned"**, she said with her gentle yet commanding voice. **"Come on out, little one."**

**"Off"**, he told Hiccup.

"What?" she questioned.

**"Off, Hiccup."**

"What's going on?" the boy asked.

"I-I don't know. He-he wants us to get off", Hiccup said, and then they did so.

**"Don't worry. Nice"**, he told her, knowing she knew those words. **"Stay."**

"Okay, bud. Just be careful."

Toothless nodded, then stepped out from the rock before the Queen.

**"My Queen"**, he bowed his head, spreading his wings out.

**"Night Fury, where have you been? And what are you carrying on your back?"**

**"My Queen, after my last raid I was shot down and stranded on the humans' island with my tail injured and unable to fly. Then in the forest I met a female who made me this to make me fly again."**

**"She repaired your tail?"**

**"In a way, yes. My friend's incredibly gifted."**

**"And I suppose she's the new scent I smell you've brought? It smells rather **_**human**_**"**, she said suspiciously.

Turning towards the rock, Toothless motioned his head for Hiccup to come out. **"Come"**, he said.

000

"What is he doing now?" Aric asked.

"He wants me to come out", Hiccup said surprised.

"What? You sure that dragon isn't trying to get you killed."

"Toothless wouldn't do that", she turned around facing him. "If he wants me to come out, there has to be a reason for it", she said, and then began to cautiously walk out.

"Just be careful out there", Aric whispered, and Hiccup gave a nod in return.

**000**

Carefully, Hiccup came out from behind the rock, looking to the Queen warily as she made her way to him.

"Uh, hi", she nervously said, raising a hand up when she reached his side.

**"What. Is. That?" **the Queen said not sounding very happy.

**"I assure you she's a friend to dragons. The humans haven't been exactly kind to her either"**, he added hoping it would help. **"She's half Night Fury."**

**"Why have you brought her here? You say you encountered her on the island. Who's to say she won't reveal our location to those savages."**

**"I heard her say we were leaving forever. I assumed it meant she was leaving her home. I request for her to stay and live with me, my Queen."**

The Queen regarded Hiccup for awhile, Hiccup clearly doing her best not to look scared, then turned her focus back onto him.** "Can she understand us?"**

**"A little, but not much."**

**"What of the human male you've brought?" **the Queen then growled.

000

"Uh, Toothless?" Hiccup said warily. She wished Toothless and this dragon, who she assumed must have been the alpha or queen judging by how Toothless bowed to her, weren't talking so fast so she could understand what they were saying to each other. The dragon was huge, her head the only thing anyone could see. That deep hole must have been the only place she could fit within the nest. Hiccup looked over to Aric, showing him the fear in her eyes as well as she could see his.

**000**

**"An offering, I assume?" **his highness continued.

**"No. He and Hiccup were with me when I heard your call. I forgot to bring her friend back before coming here. We'll take him back as soo****―****"**

**"Have you forgotten"**, the Queen said harshly making him and Hiccup take a step back. **"That human must be eradicated. Or have you gone soft in your time with this creature?"**

**"No"**, he said quickly.

**"Then drag the male out and kill him before me"**, the Queen hissed.

000

Toothless turned and walked towards where Aric was still hidden away, then pushed him out shoving him with his head.

"Hey!" Aric exclaimed.

"Toothless, what are you doing?" Hiccup asked, but no answer was given.

The queen hissed again, and she heard the sound of Toothless' plasma blast. Hiccup's eyes widened at the glow coming from Toothless' mouth. What was he doing?! What was going on?!

**000**

"Toothless, stop!" Hiccup yelled and Toothless stopped looking to her. She looked so distraught and confused. But the Queen was right. He had to kill the boy. Why should he even care if he did? He was just some human. But Hiccup…

"Toothless, I don't know what's going on, I don't know what that thing told you to do, but please, don't do it", she pleaded.

This boy was her friend; she cared about him. And…if he had given Hiccup the same treatment he would've never known her. He would have never known flight again, and even more so, would have never known flight with another in as much control as him. He would have never gotten to know all the wondrous expressions humans could make, all their confusing thoughts, what they could do with their paws. He would have never gotten the chance to teach, never the chance of having the future to teach one of his own to fly or speak in the dragon's tongue. He would have never known the intelligently talented, curious, playful, once broken girl he knew. He would have never known Hiccup.

**"What are you waiting for? Ignore the stupid girl, and do what you're told!" **the Queen demanded of him.

"Hiccup?" the boy directed to Hiccup, completely defenseless and scared.

"Toothless", Hiccup pleaded again.

He let his stance fall.

If he did this now, he'll never know Aric.

**"I can't"**, he said.

**"What do you mean, **_**you can't**_**?"**

**"I…"** Toothless faltered frightened.

**"_You_ have _failed_... You allowed yourself to be shot down, you allowed yourself to befriend this…**_**abomination**_**. And now she has poisoned your mind so much that you can't even kill one stupid human. You are a traitor, Night Fury. A disgrace to this nest! And for that you will not only face execution, but also witness that of your little**_** friends**_**!"** she roared with fury and then dove right for Hiccup and the boy.

**"NO!" **Toothless roared, pushed Hiccup and her friend away landing them behind the rock again.

"Okay, time to go, time to go", Hiccup chanted as she scrambled up and climbed onto him followed by Aric. He felt his tail open, and then leaped right as the Queen lunged again.

All his nest mates flew in a panic up and out of the nest through the hole at the top, and that's where he headed too. His now former queen chomped down again, but Toothless escaped, the queen taking his blue-green Zippleback nest mate instead.

* * *

As they flew back to Berk Hiccup was trying to figure out what was going on in that nest, Toothless completely silent the whole way. Once they reached the island, however, almost to the cove, Toothless finally said something.

**"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry"**, he said, crooning apologetically over and over.

"It's alright, bud. We're safe now. It's okay", she pet his head. "I just don't understand. What was that thing? Why are the dragons feeding it?!"

"No, no, it totally makes sense", Aric answered as they descended into the cove. "It's like a giant bee hive. They're the workers and she's their queen. It controls them." He hopped off of Toothless. "Let's find your dad."

"What? No", she ran to stop him. "No, not yet, they'll _kill_ Toothless. No…" a small whimper escaped her. "Aric, we have to think his through carefully." She started to walk back towards Toothless, the dragon still rather upset over what happened.

"Hiccup, we just discovered the dragon's nest", Aric said. "The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here, and you want to keep it a secret? To protect your _pet _dragon? Are you serious?"

Hiccup turned around, and with the most serious face and tone she ever expressed said, "Yes." It made him pause.

"…Okay."

"Achem", the two teens both then heard a female voice. They turned and saw Astrid standing in the cove staring right at them.

"I hope you two have a really good explanation of what's going on?"

Aric was quick to answer. "Astrid, I'll tell you everything when we get back home."

"Just promise you won't tell anyone about what you've seen", Hiccup quickly followed.

Astrid looked at them for a moment with a deep stare, then, she said something Hiccup didn't expect. "Okay", she shrugged her stance suddenly loose and care free.

" "Wait what?" " she and Aric both asked.

"Yeah, I pretty much heard your entire conversation when you two landed. You guys really should be more observant."

Hiccup was extremely relieved, although a little embarrassed, and then Astrid continued. "So, now what?"

"What do you mean what?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, there's the nest you found, which could potentially lead us to ending this war, and then the dragon fight tomorrow, so now what? What are you gonna do?"

"She's right", Aric said. "You can't just do nothing."

"I know. Just…" Hiccup thought for a moment, when an idea hit her. She wasn't going to fight that dragon in the ring tomorrow, and she wasn't gonna tell anyone about the nest. "I'm going to train that dragon."

Aric looked surprised and little frightened. "Wait, you're going to train it? In front of the entire village?"

"Yep."

"You realize that's insane right?"

"Uh huh."

"That's the best part", Astrid commented.

"Fine", Aric conceded. "Just be careful. I doubt anyone but Snotlout really wants you burnt to a crisp."

"Don't worry, Aric", Hiccup said. "If I could train and befriend the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, I'm pretty sure I can train a measly Nightmare."

"Your forgetting your half the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself; you don't think that had anything to do with you being able to befriend him?" Aric asked.

"No", Hiccup was quick to answer. "Okay, maybe it helped. But I'm pretty sure anyone could train a dragon. With the right patience."

"Hey, how did you know where we were anyway?" Aric then asked Astrid.

"You think you were the only one who was suspicious?" Astrid questioned. "After I noticed you were missing, I figured you went on your find out where Hiccup goes search. And not wanting to find our heir's dead corpse, I followed Hiccup into the forest. After I lost you though, I found a trail that led me here. By the time I arrived all I saw was a black blur and then_ someone_ screaming like a little girl. Figured I'd just wait here."

"I wasn't gonna kill her!" Aric protested ignoring the little girl comment.

"Uh huh", Astrid had her hands on her hips.

"You were threatening me with your ax", Hiccup added.

"Yeah, but I never meant to hurt you..." Aric said, his words drifting off.

000

There was a moment of silence and Astrid could see the awkwardness between the two as no one knew what to say next. Hiccup was fiddling with her harness, while Aric was looking anywhere but at Hiccup, only stealing glances. Astrid always knew, even if he wouldn't admit it. She decided to excuse herself.

"Well, I better be heading back. I'll see you in the arena Hiccup. Good luck", she said, and then made her way out.

000

Surprised by how kind Astrid was being to her, Hiccup answered back with a "Thank you" before she was gone.

"Wow. That was lucky", Hiccup commented.

"Astrid's pretty reckless that way", Aric shrugged.

There was another awkward silence between them for a few moments, a certain tension within the air. Hiccup could just feel the 'now what' question being held between them.

Then, suddenly Aric lightly punched her her arm.

"Hey", she lightly voiced.

"That's for kidnapping me", he said.

Holding her shoulder, all Hiccup could do was look at him in confusion. Then he did the last thing she would have ever expected him to do. He pulled her close, and kissed her cheek.

**000**

From the lake where he took his drink, Toothless looked over at the two, Hiccup and her friend, Aric. But as he watched them, the boy very quickly pulling Hiccup closer and pressing his lips to her cheek, began to think maybe they weren't just friends. He wasn't sure, but as he watched the two, Toothless felt no regret in his decision to disobey his queen. If it made him a traitor, so be it, but he could never betray his best friend. His sister.

000

As quickly as it happened it was gone, and Hiccup looked to Aric stunned. "That's for…everything else", he said softly, almost embarrassed, and then ran off with Hiccup just standing there staring.

A smile crept across her face, but disappeared when she noticed Toothless next to her, looking at her with big eyes.

"Eh-uh― What are you looking at?"

**"Nothing****"**, he answered.

* * *

**Hope you liked that whole extended scene. Just wanted to give Toothless' betrayal to the Queen some more depth.**


	11. The Kill Ring

**To answer Maria(Guest): Well, this is a rewrite, not a re-imagining, so the beats are the same, but the rhythms are different. In other words, the way in which we get to each point is written differently. Some things more than others.**

* * *

_**The Kill Ring:**_

Cheers erupted from the arena, the entire village gathered to watch the future of their tribe battle and kill her first dragon. Today was the day everything changed, and her father couldn't have been more excited.

However, Hiccup, down at the gate to the arena, her helmet off and ears exposed, hearing the cheers and excitement of her people as well, couldn't have been more nervous. Everything was going to change after today.

"Well, I can show my face in public again!" her father joked and several people laughed along at it. Hiccup's ears moved down lower. "If someone had told me that in a few short weeks Hiccup would go from being…well, Hiccup, to placing first in Dragon Training? Well I would've tied him to a mast and shipped him off for fear he'd gone mad! And you know it! But, here we are. And no one is more surprised, or more proud than I am."

That hurt Hiccup more than she thought it would. She knew she had to do this, but she didn't want to break her dad's heart. Even if it wasn't really for her, she still liked seeing her father so happy, liked hearing those words, and now she was going to have to shatter all of that.

"...Today, my girl becomes a Viking. Today, she becomes one of us!" her father finished, and cheers erupted all around.

Hiccup wasn't sure how her father would react to what she was about to do, but she knew it wouldn't be good. '_What if he fears I've taken their side; succumbed to the darkness he believes is inside me?'_ her thoughts screamed. Her mind took her to the worst possible outcomes, and to say she was frightened was a bit of an understatement. There was so much that could go wrong. And she hadn't even started worrying about the possibility of her not being able to train the Monstrous Nightmare.

"Be careful with that dragon", Aric interrupted her worrying as he approached her from behind.

"It's not the dragon I'm worried about", she replied glancing back at her father who began to take his seat.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"...Yes. I need to put an end to this; I have to try… And...Aric, if something goes…wrong…please make sure they don't find Toothless. Promise me you'll look after him."

"I will. Just promise me it won't go wrong."

Hiccup wanted to, but she knew she couldn't. She opened her mouth to say so, but Gobber suddenly approached them from inside the arena. "It's time, Hiccup. Knock 'em dead", he said, and placing her helmet onto her head, covering her ears from the villagers' sight, Hiccup entered the ring.

"No turning back now", she told herself.

Slowly, she made her way to the weapons rack, the people of Berk cheering her on. Once there she took a shield and a small dagger; it wasn't like she was gonna need them anyway. Well, maybe the shield.

"I would've gone for the hammer", she heard her father say to Gobber, and then trying to calm her nerves, turned to face the Monstrous Nightmare's cage.

She took breath. "I'm ready", she finally called.

At her announcement, a lever from outside the arena was pulled unlocking the cage, and a Monstrous Nightmare burst from the doors in flames. He frantically climbed the arena, blasting his fire at the Vikings outside the ring, and trying to find a way of escape. That is, until he saw Hiccup. When he did, he paused, his eyes lighting in recognition; he remembered her. Hiccup didn't know if that was good or bad, but then he dropped from the metal ceiling keeping him from flying away, and began to slowly stalk towards her.

"Go on Hiccup!"

"Give it to him!"

Hiccup did no such thing, however. Instead, she slowly backed up as he moved forward. One by one her weapons went; first the dagger, then the shield. She kept eye contact the entire time.

"What is she doing?" she heard her father, followed by the grumblings and murmurings of everyone else watching. Hiccup tried to block it out; keep her focus on the dragon.

She moved her hands in front of her in the a gesture of 'I'm not gonna hurt you.' The dragon said something she didn't catch, but didn't make a motion to attack. So far, so good.

"It's okay… It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you", she told him gently.

**"Liar. ...you're fault"**, he growled.

It was a risky move; she had been debating on it all night. But if they were gonna find out anyway, then why not while she made her stand? Hiccup glanced up at her father, her calm expression then becoming one of determination.

"Because…" Hiccup moved her hands to her helmet. Then, in one swift motion, took it off and threw it aside.

"I'm not one of them", she declared, and after following the helmet's path, the dragon looked back to her, his narrowed eyes widening a little.

Vikings gasped in horror at the sight of her ears, and there were mummers all around her. Confusion and horror filled the arena.

"Stop the fight!" Her father ordered, but Hiccup wouldn't have it.

"No!" she protested, not looking up from the dragon. "I need you all to see this. Dragons aren't what we think they are", she said, her hand getting closer and closer to the Nightmare's snout. "We don't have to kill them."

There was more shock among the people, everyone unsure of what to do or think, until Stoick stood up with his hammer.

"I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" her father demanded, his hammer hitting the metal bars of the ring, and the Nightmare's eyes became slits.

**"Liar!" **he roared, and snapped nearly taking her hand had she not retracted it in time. Then the Nightmare reared his head back as if to fire, and Hiccup ran.

"AHHHH!" she screamed as she ran from the flames. Flames of which caught onto her cloak and she had to throw off. It wasn't like there was really a secret to keep anymore.

* * *

On the grass of the cove, Toothless napped. He thought on everything he gave up, and yet what he gained. Thinking back on his time at the nest, the ruthlessness of the queen, he realized maybe her executions weren't so just as he was led to believe. He began to question everything from his time under her rule, contrary to his time with Hiccup. It was so different; so opposite. There, there was a constant aura of fear and anger. But here, there was compassion, fun, and joy. There, he didn't know if each day would be his last. Here, he looked forward to every day. There, he was with so many, yet he still felt so alone and empty. Yet here, even though he was alone most of the time, just waiting for when Hiccup would return, he never really felt like he was alone. Being kicked from the nest was probably the best thing that happened to him; he realized now didn't want that existence for Hiccup. If there was one thing he could change about their situation, though, it'd be that he could be with her all the time. Hopefully her plan was working.

And that's when he heard it.

"AHHHH!"

**"Hiccup!"**

* * *

"Out of my way!" Stoick pushed passed his people, both extremely angry and fearful for his daughter.

"Hiccup!" Aric screamed through the gate before prying it open with an ax and getting involved. Very courageous on the boy's behalf, but now he had two kids to save. He saw Astrid trying to make her way down too to help, but he quickly put a stop to it.

"No! You. Stay here", he told her sternly, his anger at Hiccup seeping through. The girl obeyed, although a little frightened, and Stoick moved on, pushing passed anyone who got in his way to save his child.

* * *

Toothless climbed and clawed at the shortest wall of the cove, trying with all his might to get out. He gave it his all; he couldn't give up. Not now. He kept clawing at the cliff side. If he could just get his claws over the lip…

* * *

Hiccup tried shielding herself with a shield she picked up from the fallen weapons rack, but it did little good when the Nightmare nearly trampled her. Hiccup only nearly ran out of the way in time, however losing her shield in the process.

" "Hiccup!" " both Aric and his sister shouted out for her. Aric then spotted a hammer, and just like he had done for his sister, threw it at the Monstrous Nightmare, making him chase after him instead.

"This way!" he heard Stoick, and turning to the sound found his chief at the gate.

000

Hiccup heard her father's call, and she ran after Aric towards her father too, while also trying to evade the Monstrous Nightmare. She was just about to reach her father's outstretched arm, but then the Nightmare fired causing her dad to retract and protect Aric, and Hiccup to lose her footing and have to run back.

Then out of nowhere the Nightmare lunged at her from behind pinning her to the ground with her back to ground. The claw of his foot caged her, entrapping her completely with no escape. Hiccup was sure that was it, that she was done for, when she suddenly heard that telltale sound of a whistle.

With a single blast shot, Toothless burst his way from the stands and into the dome. He landed on the Nightmare, pushing him off, and Toothless fought the dragon with a ferocity Hiccup had never seen from Toothless before. Hiccup just laid on the ground watching stunned as the two were locked in combat. The Nightmare had him down for a moment until Toothless pushed him off, launching him to the other side of the ring. He made his stand in front of Hiccup, protecting her from the Nightmare. As the dragon tried to advance, Toothless would lunge in threat attacks, keeping the Nightmare at bay and far away from her.

**"LEAVE HER!"** Toothless ordered with a final roar, and the Nightmare finally submitted before slinking away.

Shaken from her shock, a new fear began to consume Hiccup as she eyed the Vikings surrounding them from above. Quickly she stood up and ran to Toothless.

"Alright, Toothless, go. Get out of here", she told him pushing at his head, trying to get him to leave, but he wouldn't budge.

Just as she feared, her people jumped down into the arena beginning to flood the space and charge at Toothless.

"No, no, no! Stop!" Hiccup tried, but it was no use. Toothless, seeing the swarming Vikings as a threat, and already in defensive mode from the Nightmare, attacked and shoved any Viking that came remotely close. "You're only making it worse!"

No one was listening, though. The chaos only got worse as Toothless attacked and defended, only thinking he was protecting her. Pretty soon, her dad grabbed his ax and charged in too.

"No, dad he won't hurt you!" Hiccup tried, but he didn't listen. And when Toothless spotted him, he must have recognized him as their leader as he growled directly at her father and charged straight for him, knocking away any in his path. He pounced on her father, rolling them both, and ending in Toothless pinning her father down.

"Toothless, stop!"

Her dad put up a fight, but Toothless didn't give. Toothless reared his head back, a light charging in his mouth.

"No", Hiccup said, but it went unnoticed by her brother.

The light got brighter, a screech sounding throughout the arena. Hiccup saw actual fear on her dad's face. Toothless was just about to fire when―

**"NOOOOOO!"** Hiccup roared. The draconic Night Fury roar echoed throughout, stopping everything, and stunning everyone. Hiccup's hands went to cover her mouth, surprised by the sound that came from her vocal cords just as much, if not more, than everyone else. She hadn't known she could do that. Toothless stopped his attack as soon as she had roared, and his stance was crouched in apology. He crooned to her questioningly, wondering what was wrong, but Hiccup didn't get the chance to say anything more when someone hit Toothless across the head with the wood of a spear. It started everything up again, Spitelout moving in to grab and pin Toothless' head off her father and to the ground. More Vikings moved in to help pin the rest of his body as well.

"Nononono, please!" Hiccup cried as she reached out for him, Aric catching and grabbing hold of her to keep her back. "Please...Don't hurt him!" Hiccup knew Aric was just trying to protect her by keeping her away from the currently angry Vikings, but she didn't care. She wanted him to let go. She wanted to get to Toothless. He wouldn't let her, though. "…please don't hurt him…"

Her father got back to his feet and an ax was offered to him. His glare turned from Toothless to Hiccup, and then to Toothless again. "Put it with the others", he growled pushing the ax aside. Then, without another word, he marched over to where she stood and grabbed Hiccup away from Aric roughly by her vest.

Hiccup was sure he was going to drag her home then, but that's the exact opposite of what he did next. Instead Hiccup found him furiously dragging her to the cages.

"Dad! Wait!" she fought, but her dad was far stronger than her. An empty cage was opened. "Dad!" she cried out, but he just threw her in, Hiccup roughly landing on the ground. "Wait!"

Without a word, the doors slammed shut, and darkness was all Hiccup knew.

* * *

**Yeah, it's short. But I wanted to be evil and leave ya'll on that cliff hanger.**

**Mwahahahahaha!**


	12. The Curse on Berk

**No more evil Snowlily. A normal sized chapter for you this week.**

* * *

_**The Curse on Berk:**_

"Toothless! Please! Please, don't hurt him! Don't hurt Toothless! Please, just let him go! Let him go", Gobber heard the muffled shouts, bangs, and screams of Hiccup inside the once empty cage. He had always wondered when they would fill it, but he never expected it to be used for Hiccup.

Gobber just couldn't believe everything that happened. Hiccup refused to battle the Monstrous Nightmare, outed herself, denounced herself as a Viking, a Night Fury came out of nowhere to her protection, and now she was locked in one of the pens screaming for the creature's safety more than her own freedom. He wasn't sure what to think, but he did know one thing. Stoick shouldn't have locked her in there. It wasn't the first time she'd been locked in a cage, but this was different; by doing what he did, before the whole village no less, Stoick told everyone that he thought of her as one of them. A dragon. Gobber couldn't believe that, though. Maybe confused and astray, but she wasn't one of them. She hadn't betrayed them. She would never. Would she? No.

"Stoick", he marched up to his friend as the Night Fury was secured in the cage with the Gronckle. "You need to talk to Hiccup."

"I should have seen it. I should have seen the signs… " Stoick was muttering to himself. "What's there to talk about?!" he turned facing him. "She put hers and everyone's lives in danger! And for what? Under some notion that the beasts weren't that? Beasts?" He shook his head. "I should've known..."

"You can't leave her in there. She's not a dragon, Stoick. She's as much a person as you and I. You're daughter", he poked him. "Of your flesh and blood. Talk. To her", Gobber stressed, and then left it at that, hoping Stoick would listen despite his hard head. He was tired of his old friend refusing to talk to Hiccup. To really talk to her. The two hadn't had a real conversation in what felt like eons. They used to be close; used to talk. And Stoick would shower her with love only a father could give any chance he got. But something changed. Time seemed to erode that show of love and care; tear that bond, and leave only pieces of what was. They never talked anymore. Their relationship was broken; had been for a long time. And Gobber knew that both Haddocks knew it too. He just hoped Stoick took his advice, because the only way to fix things now was if they finally just talked.

* * *

Hiccup gave up yelling and banging awhile ago. It was clear they either couldn't hear her, or no one cared. Instead, she now sat in the pitch black room with her knees up and her arms wrapped around hearing the Deadly Nadder in the next cage trilling comfortingly. Before, she told her that Toothless was okay and just as worried for her as she was for him. Toothless must have told the Nadder about the language barrier, because she was using the words Toothless taught her or picked up, and Hiccup appreciated that. For the time Hiccup and Toothless had been locked up, the dragons between them had been their messengers. Except for the Nightmare, Hiccup had gained the trust of the caged dragons, as she was the only one who didn't hurt them, and for the past many weeks, she snuck them extra food at night―Hiccup knew Gobber had never fed them enough. Knowing Toothless was okay and well had calmed Hiccup's racing heart, but she knew it wouldn't last long, and that still worried her. Toothless said he'd be okay, but Hiccup knew it was a lie. He was worried about her, but while Hiccup was pretty sure her dad wouldn't hurt her, and she'd be let out sooner or later, she knew for certain he'd have no qualms about hurting her brother.

Then suddenly, Hiccup heard the lock, and the door was opened with day light streaming in from the opening. Hiccup had to close her eyes, but when she could open them again, she was thankful for her sense of sight returned. It was so dark in that cell, she hadn't been able to even see her own hand in front of her face.

The first thing she saw was her dad. He stood at the door looking furious, but not as much as he was before. Maybe he'd calmed down a little in the minutes she'd been locked in. That would make getting through to him easier.

"We had a deal", he said lowly, his voiced laced in anger. Maybe he wasn't as calmed down as she thought. Then again, it had only been about ten or fifteen minutes.

"I-I know we did", she rose to her feet, "but― I just― That was before… ohhh, it's all so messed up", she pulled at her hair.

"So. Everything in the ring? A trick? A lie?" her father walked up towards her, question in his eyes, wondering why and how she could betray them.

"I screwed up", she admitted, her father beginning to pace in his frustration. "I-I-I should have told you before now. Just. Dad, just take this out on me. Be mad at me! But please! Don't hurt Toothless!"

"The dragon?" he turned on her, before storming up close to her. "That's what you're worried about?! Not the people you almost killed?!"

"H-he was just protecting me. He isn't dangerous!" Hiccup defended.

"They've killed HUNDREDS OF US!" her dad yelled in rage.

"AND WE'VE KILLED THOUSANDS OF THEM!" Hiccup yelled right back at him. "They defend themselves that's all! They raid us because they have to. If they don't bring enough food back they'll be eaten themselves; there's something else on their island dad, it's a dragon like—"

"Their island?" he interrupted. "So you've been to the nest?"

"Did I say nest", Hiccup said weary.

"How did you find it?!"

"I-I didn't! There's this call… O-only a dragon can find the island."

Her father's eyes widened, and he straightened from his hunch over her. Immediately, Hiccup knew she'd said too much.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, dad no, please. You don't know what you're up against; it's like nothing you've ever seen!" He simply ignored her, turned, and headed for the door.

"Dad…please! I promise you, you can't win this won!" she tried, but her father still wouldn't listen. "Dad! No!" She ran to him trying to stop him from exiting through the door.

"For once in your life would you please just listen to me?!" she cried out pulling at him, only for him to grab her and throw her back onto the cold stone floor. He turned to face her, looking down with pure hatred and anger.

"You've thrown your lot in with them", he growled. "I knew you'd only be a curse upon this village. You're not a Viking", he shook his head. "You're not my daughter."

Hiccup felt her heart break at those words, and Stoick walked out slamming the cage closed again.

"Ready the ships!" he roared, and once again Hiccup was left in nothing but inky blackness, and the sound of caring dragons.

000

Before Stoick had even left the arena, he stumbled back a bit, unable to believe what he had just done. He quickly recovered though, his stride returning. No matter how much it hurt, his daughter had lost the battle that had been within her. She'd chosen the dragons over them and unfortunately there was nothing he could do. He chose not to dwell on it anymore, the reality of it too much. Instead, he decided to focus on finding the nest. In order to accomplish that, however, he needed that Night Fury.

"Didn't you hear me?! Get that Night Fury secured and onto my ship!" he ordered the Vikings that still lingered in the area. "We're taking down that nest."

* * *

"Are they gone?" Astrid whispered hiding in the stands above.

Aric peaked out from his hiding spot below, watching as some warriors wheeled Toothless out of the arena and towards the docks per Stoick's order. He and Astrid had been silently waiting and listening, waiting for the right moment to go in and free Hiccup. They had hoped to free Toothless too, but then Stoick decided to take him and that put a damper on their plan. Now, their main focus was to get Hiccup out of that cage. He waited a moment more before he responded.

"Yeah", he quietly relayed back looking up. "Hurry, get to the lever."

"Already ahead of you", his sister said swiftly and silently making her way towards it. Meanwhile, Aric slipped inside and stood in front of the cage.

"Hiccup, can you hear me?" he called as silently as possible, but still to a range that Hiccup could hopefully hear.

"Aric?" he heard Hiccup's voice ask.

"It's me. Don't worry, Hiccup. Astrid and I are gonna get you out."

Astrid pulled down the lever and the lock rose up letting the doors fall open. Aric helped it along faster.

"Aric", Hiccup just said as she stood there, before her eyes drifted off behind him. "I have to hurry", she suddenly raced out. "I have to stop them before it's too late!"

"Hiccup, wait!" Aric called, but she ignored him racing for the docks.

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled out too, but Hiccup still didn't stop. "She's not gonna reach them in time" , Astrid stated as she hopped down. "The fleet's already set sail."

"We have to figure something out. If they reach that nest, they're done."

"Right. But how?"

They stood there for a moment thinking, until Aric was sure he came up with something perfect. "I got it! But first, Hiccup's gonna need some comforting", he said, before he began to race off.

"What are you planning?" Astrid curiously inquired.

"You'll see. Just gather up everyone, and meet us back here."

With that, the two split up with Aric heading for the docks.

* * *

'_No no no no no!'_ Hiccup's mind screamed as she reached a platform overlooking the harbor. She was too late. All the ships. They were gone. The fleet had already left, and when she looked out she could just see them sailing passed the horizon. She failed. Her father, her people, Toothless… She failed, and now she was gonna lose everything. It was all her fault. It was always her fault.

Hiccup knew if her father, the man who had just disowned her, returned she'd be banished or tried to be kept in that cage like a savage beast, but would he even return? Would anyone?

Hiccup didn't want to cry; Vikings don't cry. But she felt the floodgates about to burst. She didn't know how to stop it, so she did the only thing she could think of. Sing her mother's lullaby.

_"Everybody's got a thing__. __B__ut some don't know how to handle it."_ A few tears escaped her eyes, already losing the battle. _"Always reaching out in vain__. __J__ust taking the things not worth having__―__ But__. __D__on't you worry__…__ 'bout a thing. Don't you worry__…__ 'bout a thing__, __baby. 'Cause…" _She began to sob. _"Cause I'll be standing…by your side…when…you find it…_out…" Hiccup lost her battle not to cry, and she doubled over holding herself sobbing softly.

* * *

By the time she stopped, wiping the tears from her face, Hiccup heard the sound of someone approaching her. Too depressed to care, however, she didn't move.

"What a mess." It was Aric. "You must feel horrible. I mean, you've lost everything: your father, your tribe, your best friend…"

"Thank you, for summing that up", Hiccup muttered glancing to him. She shook her head. "…Maybe my dad was right. I wasn't cursed; I am the curse. I've done nothing in my life but make a mess."

"Every choice you made led you here", Aric nodded.

"Why couldn't I just have killed that dragon when I found him in the woods? Wouldn't it have been better? For everyone?" Hiccup continued on.

"Yeah, most of us would have done it. So, why didn't you?" Aric suddenly questioned.

Hiccup didn't answer.

"Why didn't you?" he repeated softer.

"I don't know… I couldn't."

"That's not an answer."

"Why is this all so important to you all of a sudden?!" Hiccup turned to him in annoyance and sudden anger.

"Because I want to hear what you say. Right here. Right now", Aric told her calm, but stern.

"Oh, for the love of— I was a coward, I was weak, I wouldn't kill a dragon!"

"You said _wouldn't_ that time."

"Oh, whatever! I _wouldn't_! Three hundred years, and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon! I'm the first Viking to doom and destroy her _entire _village because she wouldn't kill a dragon!" she yelled, and turned her back to him.

"First to ride one though", he said, and that made Hiccup pause.

The one accomplishment she made; the one thing she did right. How could she forget? And it never would have happened if she hadn't let Toothless go that day. But why did she let him go? She remembered seeing something in his eyes, but at the time she couldn't understand it. Very soon, however, her eyes began to widen in realization. She knew exactly what she saw, and she hadn't only seen it once.

"So…" Aric pressed.

Slowly, Hiccup turned back to Aric.

"I wouldn't kill him, because he looked as frightened as I was. I had the chance to kill him, but when I looked into his eyes, I didn't see a monster, or a mindless beast… I just saw a living feeling being, scared and alone… When I looked at him… I saw myself."

"Well I bet he's pretty scared now. So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Eh, probably something stupid", she shrugged.

"Good…but you've already done that."

An idea then popped into her head and her eyes lit up, her ears perking. "Then something crazy." And with that she ran off to the arena.

"_That's_ more like it", Aric said, more to himself, before running up to follow her.

* * *

Astrid had gathered all their friends up, just telling them to meet her at the arena. By the time Astrid and Fishlegs came in, Snotlout and the twins were there waiting.

"Alright, what did you drag us all here for?" Snotlout questioned.

"And why's Hiccup's cage open?" Tuffnut asked.

"Because we're gonna help Hiccup", Astrid said.

"That freak?!" Snotlout. "What, to escape? Why would we do that?!"

"Are you sure that's even wise?" Fishlegs asked. "What if the chief thinks we're traitors?"

"Right now the chief doesn't know what he's doing", Astrid told them. "From what Aric told me about the dragons' queen, our parents aren't going to make it out of that nest alive."

"Qu-queen?"

"Yes. A giant monstrous one. Look, Hiccup may be a hybrid, but she's always been. Us knowing doesn't change that. And right now we have to help Hiccup stop that thing before it destroys everyone. That's why we're here."

There was silence amongst her friends. Astrid wasn't sure if she'd won them over yet, but when Hiccup and Aric came in, she got her answer.

000

When Hiccup reached the arena, she wasn't expecting to find the teens there. She turned back to Aric surprised by him.

"You?" she asked, and Aric gave her his own smirk with a tilt of his head, arms crossed over his chest.

Hiccup turned herself back around, but startled at Tuffnut being suddenly in front of her. A little too close too.

"You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon", he dramatically expressed. "It's me."

Hiccup, weirded out, wasn't sure how to respond. Snotlout came to her next. "_I_ love this plan."

"Uh…I didn't—" Hiccup tried to say, confused as to what plan he was referring to, but Ruffnut shoved her way in, pushing Snotlout out of the way.

"You're crazy. I like that", Ruffnut said in a way that made Hiccup extremely uncomfortable and begin to question the girl's sexuality. Luckily Astrid pulled her away in the next second.

"So? What exactly is the plan?" she asked eagerly.

Hiccup didn't answer for a moment. But then she looked back to Aric, gave him a smile, and turned back to the group of teens awaiting her orders.

* * *

**Oh boy, final battle's next. Probably won't be too much different about it, but I'll see what I can do.**

**Song is the beginning of Don't You Worry About a Thing by Tori Kelly from Sing (movie version, not soundtrack)**


	13. Battle of the Red Death

_**Battle of the Red Death:**_

Toothless glared at the back of the alpha of Hiccup's nest. He was also Hiccup's dad if he remembered correctly. He heard her yell 'dad' to him, and remembered her saying something about being the daughter of the chief. And if he was right, that's what humans called their alphas. Chiefs. He hated this alpha-chief. He hurt Hiccup. He couldn't understand why she told him to stop. Her so called dad clearly didn't care for her, so why should she care for him? He was running straight for her with an ax for the moon's sake.

**"Why did she tell me to stop? If I had just killed him we wouldn't be in this mess"**, he grumbled to himself since the humans couldn't understand him. With Hiccup still barley able to understand him, he felt like he had been doing that a lot the past month.

Hiccup's roar of **'no'**, however,was coupled with the tone of 'distress' and 'fear'. She did _not_ want him to hurt the man. He still couldn't understand why, but he supposed it didn't matter. If Hiccup didn't want him hurt, he wouldn't hurt him. It's not like he could do much in his current position anyway.

He was on a floating tree thing―'boats' he was pretty sure they were called; if he ever made it back to Hiccup he'd have to ask― with the alpha, locked in some wooden contraption that prevented any movement except for his head. His muzzle was also shut tight by some kind of strap, which made talking to himself a little unpractical, but he didn't really care. He found since being with Hiccup that talking to himself helped him think.

They approached the fogged entrance to the queen's domain and it wasn't too long before he heard her call. At first he thought he could ignore it; lead the humans on a wild goose chase, but he soon realized something was wrong. The hum… It felt like bees swarming at his brain, making it hard to focus. He found he was moving his head through the motions as if he were flying, leading the humans straight to the nest he once called home. He couldn't understand what was going on. Why was he following her call? He looked back in his memories; every time he followed it back home, was it even his movements? He was starting to realize that the call was really more of a trance. Some kind of mind control power that lured dragons in. Toothless remembered the day he came to the nest. He thought it was through curiosity that he followed her call. But what if her hypnotic hum really was just that? Hypnotic?

Toothless tried to block it out and fight. He tried focusing on his sister, returning to her, flying away from everything, but it wasn't working. The boat stalled as he shook his head, fighting his own mind, thoughts split in two. One part said to continue following, while the other said no! It was a trap! She was leading him to a trap! She was gonna kill him!

**"Ah—Hiccup…"**

He couldn't disobey his Queen for long. Soon there was nothing but the call, following the sound where ever it led.

* * *

Backing out of the Monstrous Nightmare's cage, Hiccup had her hand out to the dragon with him following her. All the teens looked at it with amazement, except for Snotlout who was still scared. He picked up a broken spear that was left on the ground, but Astrid caught him.

"Uh-uh", she shook her head, and he promptly dropped it.

Hiccup then moved to her cousin with the Nightmare, deeming him to be the perfect partner―they were both hot headed―and tried to take his hand to replace hers. Snotlout fought a little, pulling his hand away in fear, but soon Snotlout's hand reached the dragon's snout and her cousin smiled in awe.

"Whe-where're you going?!" he fearfully shouted next when she walked away. She was at a box on one of the sides of the arena.

"You're gonna need something to hold onto", Hiccup replied, taking out some rope as all the other dragons came out from their open cages ready to know who they're partner was going to be.

* * *

Stoick and his fleet headed further into Helheim's Gate following where the Night Fury's head pointed, a buzzing sound echoing throughout the air. He could never figure out what that sound was, nor what it meant. Perhaps it was that call Hiccup mentioned―the devil did start leading them as soon as it started. Stoick shook the thought of Hiccup out of his head. He still didn't know what to do about her, but he couldn't dwell on that now. He had to keep focus, and thoughts of his daughter would only distract him.

A dragon head appeared in the fog, and it made some of his warriors recoil in slight fear, getting their weapons out for a fight. Stoick narrowed his eyes ready for anything. After a moment, though, they realized it was only a wrecked ship. It was stuck atop a large rock formation that jutted out of the sea having no explanation of how it got there.

"Oh… I was wondering where that went", Gobber commented, trying to lighten up the mood.

At last, Stoick saw land. They were finally approaching the island, and when boat hit it, Stoick pushed passed some of his men to get a better look. As he looked up at the mountain, he could see a Monstrous Nightmare's tail slither inside.

"We're here."

He jumped out of the boat onto the island, and the buzzing sound abruptly stopped; it was now deathly quiet. Whatever was making that sound knew they was here.

* * *

Pretty soon everyone was bonded with a dragon—Snotlout with the Nightmare he decided to name Hookfang, Fishlegs with the Gronckle he named Meatlug, and the twins with the Zippleback they named Barf and Belch.

Well, all except for two actually. The only dragon left was the Nadder, and Astrid and Aric were bickering over who should ride her.

"I'm the one who got her to come up with a plan!"

"You always get everything; and _I'm_ the older one!" Astrid countered.

"I do not!"

"Oh yes you do!"

"Guys!" Hiccup interrupted. "Astrid, you'll ride the Deadly Nadder with me. Aric, you'll ride with Snotlout."

"Ha! Looks like Stormfly's mine", Astrid boasted.

Aric was about to say something back, but Hiccup interrupted.

"Guys, stop it. Once this is over, we can find you your own dragon", she directed to Aric. _'Given we survive this.'_

* * *

Stoick's soldiers were sharpening logs, placing them into the ground in angled rows, and loading boulders into catapults as Stoick, with his generals by his side, formed a plan of attack in the sand.

"When we crack this mountain open, all hell is gonna break loose", Stoick said as he finished drawing the plan in the sand.

"And my undies. Good thing I brought extras", Gobber commented.

Stoick, ignoring Gobber, stepped forward ready to give the command. "No matter how this ends, it ends today!" He raised his hand, and when he closed it into a fist all the catapults were let loose onto the mountain. One by one the boulders hit the face of the volcano causing it to crack open into a hole. Stoick stepped up to the entrance of the newly formed hole, his war hammer gripped in his hand. When nothing happened, he silently ordered them to launch a fire lit boulder with a slight motion of his hammer. They lit and launched the boulder, and as the walls lit up he could see dragons on every inch of space the walls provided.

With a battle cry Stoick charged in, prompting the men and few women that made up his army to do the same. The dragons scattered out and flew away avoiding every Viking on the ground no matter how vigorously they swung at the beasts. They all looked out to the dragons confused as they flew away, but then thought of it as a simple victory thinking they must have simply scared them off somehow.

"We've done it!" Spitelout shouted, and every one cheered celebrating.

Stoick, however, didn't. As he looked down at his people, his eyes drifted to the ships and the Night Fury. Stoick saw the dragon pulling at his chains trying to get away, and realized something else was coming. The dragons didn't fight, because something else was going to fight for them.

"This isn't over!" Stoick gained the attention of his people. "Form your ranks! Hold together!" he ordered and turned back towards the entrance of the nest. Everyone scrambled to get organized once more waiting for whatever it was that was coming. The ground shook. The mountain began to crack, and Stoick realized this something was bigger than he'd ever imagined a dragon to be.

"Move!" he ordered and everyone close to the volcano ran and scattered away to not be crushed under the weight of destruction a giant gray beast was causing as it broke through the mountain. It was ginormous; a dragon the size of the mountain itself.

"Beard of Thor… What is that?!" Gobber asked.

Stoick was stunned as he looked up at it. "Odin, help us", he muttered, knowing he had made the biggest mistake of his life.

The dragon finally emerged completely letting out a loud roar of its presence and it stomped its feet onto the ground nearly crushing hundreds of Vikings as they kept running.

"Catapults!" Stoick ordered. But when the boulders hit the dragon, they were nothing but mere pebbles to it. The only thing they did, was make it mad and attack the contraptions with one snap of its jaw, and one step with its foot.

"Get to the ships!" one Viking said, he didn't know who, in the attempt for retreat, but Stoick knew the ships would only sentence them to death.

"No! No!" he tried to warn them but it was too late. The dragon blasted a huge stream of fire at the ships causing anyone who boarded to jump over board to escape the fire, or be burned alive.

"Smart that one", Gobber said beside him.

"I was a fool. Lead the men to the far side of the island!" Stoick ordered his general, Spitelout.

"Right. Everybody to the far side of the island!"

"Gobber, go with the men", Stoick continued.

"I think I'll stay just in case you're thinking of doing something crazy."

"I can buy them a few minutes if I give that thing someone to hunt."

Gobber stopped him from running off by grabbing his forearm and then his hand in a gesture of friendship."Then I can double that time."

They both began to yell for the beast's attention, Stoick throwing one of the logs stuck in the ground at the dragon's face. It looked over to him and began to rear up for an attack, when a blast of fire hit the back of its head.

It was the teens all on dragons led by Hiccup and Astrid on a blue and yellow Nadder. Stoick didn't know what to do or say taken completely back by what he was seeing.

"Look at us we're on a dragon! All of us, we're on dragons!" Tuffnut was shouting enthusiastically a top a Zippleback with his sister.

Gobber moved to Stoick who was still staring speechless. "What I say?" he said as if to say this proved his point at the ring. "Every bit the boar-headed, stubborn Viking you ever were."

Stoick could only respond with a nod.

000

"Fishlegs break it down", Hiccup said when they circled back around.

"Okay, heavily armored skull and tail made for bashing and crushing; stay clear of both. Small eyes, large nostrils; relies on hearing and smell."

"Okay. Aric, Lout, Legs, hang in her blind spot. Make some noise, keep her confused. Ruff and Tuff, find out if she has a shot limit. Make her mad."

"That's my specialty", Ruffnut replied, but Tuffnut objected.

"Since when? Everyone knows I'm more irritating. See?" He turned Belch upside down and began to make irritating sounds.

"Just do what I told you!" Hiccup stressed. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

She left the group to do what she said and flew Stormfly, as Astrid named her, down to the burning ships to find Toothless.

"Don't worry we got it covered!" Snotlout shouted out to her as she flew away.

Hiccup flew by the shore for a bit, looking to the burning ships. A pit grew in her stomach, fearing the worst, but then she heard Toothless' calls for her.

**"Hiccup!**** Hiccup!****"**

"There", she found him, locked down and trapped on her father's flag ship. She turned Stormfly towards the burning ship and jumped onto it despite the danger.

"Go help the others!" she yelled up to Astrid. "I'll be there soon!"

Without hesitation, Astrid left and Hiccup turned to Toothless to free him from his restraints. She got his muzzle off first then worked on his chains, but unable to break them.

**"Hiccup, go!"** Toothless told her with his tone being of 'love', 'worry', and 'fear'.

"No way buddy; I'm not leaving you."

Suddenly, the Queen's tail knocked the mast from a nearby ship down, crashing onto the ship they were on. Hiccup screamed shielding herself with a wing from the flames that came towards her. Not even a moment later did the dragon's foot come crashing onto the ship, breaking it apart and landing the two in the ocean. Toothless, still chained up, sank like a rock to the bottom. Hiccup didn't take a moment to come up for air; she swam to her brother and once again tried with all her might to free him. Toothless told her to leave him again, but she wouldn't do it. She couldn't. She just kept tugging, and tugging, until she couldn't anymore. Her pull on the chains weakened, her grip soon gone all together. Everything was going dark; she knew she was drowning but didn't have the strength to swim up. She just floated there, Toothless becoming frantic at the edge of her hearing. Then she felt herself being yanked by someone out of the water, hearing Toothless scream out for her in fear. Hiccup was dragged out and placed on the shore, coughing up a storm of water. She only saw her rescuer for a second, but she could have sworn she saw her father dive into the ocean.

"Dad?"

000

Stoick dove under the sea again for the dragon his daughter had just risked her own life to save. He couldn't believe he was doing this, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and if Hiccup and her friends could control the beasts―creatures―to fight against that mother dragon, if Hiccup was so bonded to that Night Fury that she would die for it, then he couldn't leave her dragon to perish.

He swam to the dragon in no time, and after only a moment of hesitation he let the Night Fury go, pulling away his bonds with pure strength. The dragon stared at him for a little while, as if contemplating something, when he suddenly shot up, grabbed him, and shot out of the water. He dropped him on shore and landed on a rock like a perch turning back to his daughter and telling her something she seemed to understand.

"You got it bud", she said to it.

She ran to the dragon and climbed onto his back preparing to join the fight, but he had to stop her. He had to tell her how much he regretted what he had said and done to her.

"Hiccup", he said grabbing her arm and causing her to pause on the dragon's back. "I'm sorry, for-for everything."

"Yeah, me too", she apologized back. She shouldn't have felt the need to. None of this was her fault.

"You don't have to go up there", he told her. "You don't have to prove anything Hiccup." If anything happened to her Stoick wouldn't know what to do, but Hiccup said something he would have only expected his child to say.

"We're Vikings; it's an occasional hazard", she shrugged, and Stoick couldn't help the smile trying to break out. Stoick should have known she would still want to go. Even if she was different—very different—she was still a Viking, and still his daughter.

"I'm proud to call you my daughter", he finally said, her hand in both of his. He let go, allowing her to go off with her dragon and fight. He couldn't have been any prouder.

000

Hearing those words from her father made Hiccup feel the greatest she had ever felt in her entire life. Even better than the day she first tasted flight. Her father was proud of her. He was actually proud of her.

"Thanks dad", she replied in an emotional whisper, still taken back by his words, finally feeling loved after so many years.

She turned from her father and crouched down on Toothless, spreading out her wings with him, and ready for take-off. They launched into the air and while their wing beats were not in time, they were closer than on their first flight. This time, however, Hiccup wasn't flapping her wings to mimic the action of flying, but to allow Toothless more speed with an extra set of wings.

000

"She's up!" Astrid shouted out as she saw Hiccup and Toothless launch.

Aric, next to her, was riding Hookfang while Snotlout was on the mountainous dragon due to Hookfang losing control from the banging noises they were previously making. It was meant to throw the Queen off balance, just like they learned in training, but they forgot it would affect their own dragons as well. Hookfang lost balance, and ended up throwing Snotlout onto the monstrous dragon queen.

"Come on! Let's get Snotlout out of there!" Aric said to the twins. Seeing the oncoming rescuers, Snotlout jumped and landed on Barf and Belch safely.

"I can't believe that worked", Tuffnut said, everyone retreating to regroup.

Aric tried to follow them, but he was suddenly stopped by a force from behind preventing him and Hookfang from moving forward. He looked back only to see the Queen was trying to suck him and Hookfang into her mouth.

000

When they were in the air, Hiccup heard Aric screaming and she saw him on Hookfang being sucked in by the Queen. They raced through the air, a whistle sounding, and as they turned to attack, Hiccup could hear the Vikings on the ground shouting like they would back at the village.

"Night Fury!"

"Get down!"

They flew close to the Queen and shot the side of her mouth, causing her to stop and Aric to be thrown off Snotlout's dragon. He tumbled through the air screaming, and Hiccup and Toothless raced to catch him. They passed where he was falling, Hiccup no longer hearing screaming, but Hiccup wasn't sure Toothless caught him with how fast they were moving.

"Did you get him?!" she asked.

Toothless looked underneath himself to see Aric caught in his claws by the boy's foot. He looked up and smiled, and Toothless gave a gummy smile back.

**"Yes****!****"**

They flew close to the ground and dropped Aric back onto his feet on the sand and away from danger. Once he was safe they went back into the fight. This was now just between her, Toothless, and the Queen. It was time to end this.

"Go", she heard Aric say, before they flew out of hearing range, only motivating Hiccup further.

They were climbing up higher in the sky, when Hiccup looked back seeing the dragon actually had wings. "That thing has wings…okay; let's see if she can use them!"

Toothless and Hiccup both tucked their wings in and turned into a dive for the dragon. In the last second, Toothless shot a powerful blast at her causing the Queen to topple over onto her side.

"Think that did it?" Hiccup asked, but it needed no verbal answer. It did, and she was chasing them with the intention to destroy.

**000**

**"You insolent Night Fury! You will regret **_**ever**_** turning against me for these pathetic creatures!"**

**"Only if you can catch me"**, Toothless taunted the tyrant he once foolishly served. Normally he wouldn't think it a wise idea, but he had to get her mad enough so she wouldn't think straight and leave herself open. Getting her to abandon the ground was one step in the right direction.

"Well she can fly! But let's see how well", Hiccup said, and Toothless knew what she meant.

He raced forward, heading for the sea stacks and beginning to maneuver around them with great skill, boosted with some added speed from Hiccup's wings. It all didn't help much to lose her, though, as the queen just used her size and strength to barrel through the rock pillars. On the bright side, however, it did serve to tiring her out slightly.

"Okay Toothless, time to disappear."

Hiccup clicked his tail fin into position and he acted accordingly heading for the clouds. The queen was gaining on them, and they needed some way to get the advantage.

"Come on bud!"

Toothless could hear her preparing to fire, and Hiccup must have too. "Here it comes!" she warned. He veered left just as her fire was released missing them by a frill. They flew further and further into the clouds until they couldn't be seen anymore. Now with the cloud cover, they had the advantage they needed.

**"You can't hide from me forever, little dragon****"**, the tyrant growled.

Toothless didn't reply, using the fact that she couldn't see them to strike when she least expected it.

**"Where are you?! Come on out and fight!"**she began to roar.

Still all was quiet, waiting for the right moment. Her back was turned to him, and he and Hiccup both deemed it the perfect time. In the next moment, he shot a plasma blast at the back of her head.

**"Coward!"** she roared with fury.

Toothless shot at her wings next; again and again and again, until he only had one shot left. The queen, in her fury, had clearly had enough and let out a stream of fire in all different directions determined to find and kill him and Hiccup. Her plan terrifyingly succeeded; they weren't able to completely escape her flames, his prosthetic caught in the fire and burning away.

"Okay, times up", Hiccup said, sounding a little worried, although he knew that meant a lot worried. "Let's see if this works."

With no time to lose they had to initiate the last part of their plan. They had to get her to try and fire at them just one more time.

"Come on is that the best you can do?!" Hiccup taunted the queen.

**"You couldn't even hit a Gronckle!" **Toothless added in, before flying away in a dive.

**"Why you little…"**the queen hissed.

Just as predicted, she dove after them. As they flew downwards further Toothless could feel his left tail fin turning to ashes.

**"Uh****…Hiccup****?****!"**

"Stay with me buddy, we're good; just a little bit longer."

The queen would fire any moment; it was only a matter of time. Toothless only wished she would do it already.

"Hold Toothless..." Hiccup said as they heard the sound they'd been waiting for. Only a moment later Hiccup finally told him.

"Now!"

And without hesitation, Toothless turned around and fired a plasma blast straight into the queen's mouth that had been filling with gas, igniting her own fire inside her. It caused her to burn from the inside out. Toothless righted himself once more, using his wings to parachute himself out of the way from the queen's deadly dive that she couldn't stop due to the holes created in her wings from his blasts, only getting worse and more apparent as the rushing winds tore them open. She crashed onto the earth with an explosion of fire, and Toothless and Hiccup found themselves caught in it. They flew passed the spines on her back trying to out fly the fire chasing them, when Toothless felt his prosthetic finally give out. The queen's tail was coming at them; Toothless had no way to avoid its collision.

"No. No―!" he heard Hiccup, before they were hit, and her voice was silenced.

**"Hiccup!"** he called as he spiraled, no longer feeling her weight and seeing her below falling to her doom. She didn't answer, her eyes closed and body limp. Without even a single thought, he went after her; Toothless was _not _going to lose her. He flew down to Hiccup as fast as he could but it wasn't enough; she was still too far out of reach for his arms. As much as he didn't want to, Toothless had no choice. He opened his mouth, unsheathed his teeth, and grabbed the closest part of her he could which happened to be her leg. After clamping down he quickly pulled her in close so he could shield her from the flames and impact of the fiery ground. He was just in time too, as he felt the awful impact only a moment after he pulled her to safety.

Toothless panted, still alive, but very tired and maybe even a little wounded. He felt Hiccup in his arms, safe, but she didn't wake up.

* * *

**We're in the final stretch. One last chapter in this re-written tale. I'm glad you guys have been enjoying it; I've had fun writing it.**


	14. My Name's Hiccup

**Back when I first wrote this I'd asked for suggestions for Aric's dragon. The dragon that was chosen was by Solarwave, and it's been a pleasure having this quite unique dragon around.**

* * *

_**My Name's**__** Hiccup**__**:**_

The fire of the explosion had long ceased, ash coating the earth and in the air. His people safe, them all far from the explosion when it hit, Stoick had run into the ashy fog in search for his daughter. He wandered almost frantically praying to any god who would listen that she would be okay.

"Hiccup! Hiccup! Hun!" he shouted out as he looked around the barren land. No answer came. Then he spotted the form of a black lump in the distance. "Hiccup", he breathed, and ran to it, the form just laying there as if dead.

When he got to it, he found the Night Fury breathing heavily, tired and hurt. The saddle Hiccup must have made was torn to burnt shreds, and his left tail fin was only bent metal rods sticking up in odd angles. What he didn't see, however, was Hiccup; she was nowhere in sight, and Stoick could only assume the worst.

She was gone. Hiccup was gone. She sacrificed herself, and it was to save people who didn't even deserve it. To save a people who cast her aside all her life simply for her size, and wouldn't listen to her when it mattered most because of fear of what she was. Stoick certainly knew he didn't deserve it. He caused all this. Hiccup was gone because of him. His knees gave out crumpling to the floor of soot and ash, grief and regret hitting him like a mountain was just thrown.

"I did this", he whispered, reaffirming his thoughts out loud. To hear those words made it all the more real. He did this. If he had only listened to her none of this would have happened. She would be home, alive and safe. But instead he failed her; he was too stubborn to see she was only trying to make things better; too afraid of what could be to see what was. He was too blind, and because of him, she was gone. Just as he had vowed to always protect Valka, he had done the same for Hiccup. He might not have always shown it, but he loved her. First his wife, and now his only daughter. He failed his family, and he failed himself. At least now, there was no one left to fail.

Silent tears trailed down.

000

As the fog of ash in the air subsided, the people of Berk saw their chief before the black dragon on his knees. They slowly approached wondering where their heiress and savior was, but pretty soon they began to realize Stoick was on his knees because he was grieving. There was no Hiccup; no body to even send to Valhalla.

Gobber and the teens pushed their way through to see, and when Aric finally saw what everyone else was seeing, it made him gasp in shock, his eyes becoming wet. Everyone's heads went down to mourn the loss of their heiress.

All was quiet.

**000**

Toothless' eyes fluttered open, and he saw Hiccup's father in front of him, her entire pack behind him. They all looked sad, body language of regret, grief, and sorrow. Toothless' eyes traveled back to the alpha-chief and the man noticed him; they just stared at each other, the human's grief the greatest out of all the others, until the man finally said something.

"I'm so-I'm so sorry", he said sorrowfully, his voice quiet and broken.

Toothless' eyes widened in realization; they all thought Hiccup was dead...and they all cared. Hiccup's dad cared. For a moment he wanted them to continue to think she was gone so he could steal Hiccup away, but he knew he had no right to take her away from her father; from her pack. Hiccup wouldn't want that. These people wouldn't want that. They were part of her life. Decided, Toothless opened up his wings, revealing the man's daughter to him.

000

"Hiccup!" Stoick exclaimed, rushing to Hiccup and scooping her up in his arms from the dragon. He brushed her bangs from her face to get a better look at her, his girl unconscious; he couldn't tell if she was breathing. The spark of hope that ignited, however didn't go out. Throwing his helmet aside he quickly checked for a heartbeat. An agonizing second went by before he heard it; the strong and proud beat of his daughter's heart. He felt as if he were to cry again. "She's alive. You brought her back alive", he said, his voice breaking for a moment.

Behind him, his people cheered, dragons who had returned too flapping their wings, roaring, and hopping up and down as if cheering happily as well.

Stoick placed a gentle hand on the Night Fury's head, and the dragon tiredly placed his head down. "Thank you, for saving my daughter", he said to him, letting the dragon rest. He deserved it.

"Well…most of her", Gobber commented beside him.

* * *

It was a long difficult two weeks since the end to the Viking-Dragon war. They were able to salvage a few of their ships and make it home, getting the wounded to their healer. True to Gobber's word, Hiccup's left leg was severely injured below the knee. It was to the point where Gothi couldn't do anything to save it, and in order to save the whole leg, they'd have to amputate. Hiccup was still unconscious, so she probably didn't feel it, but that was also the problem. She wouldn't wake up.

Day after day passed and there was no sign of life from her besides her steady breathing and heartbeat. And even those feigned away. During one morning, Stoick woke up to find Hiccup was freezing cold, her breathing shallow, and her heartbeat slow. He immediately grabbed Gothi, but she couldn't find anything wrong to cause it. There was nothing they could do but try to keep her warm, and hope she pulled through.

Toothless, however, wasn't worried; at least not as much as the humans. Due to the severity of Hiccup's injuries, she had fallen into a Dragon's Sleep Coma. It was a state where a dragon's body would focus all its energy into healing the dragon. To the untrained eye, they could appear dead.

The Vikings, of course, didn't know this. So, while the dragons that now inhabited their island were calm and some even happy, Stoick and the tribe were not; they feared she would be dead any day, and while it was a possibility, it was unlikely she would. Hiccup was strong; she'd make it. Pretty soon, she began to return to normal on her fourth day in the sleep coma. She had now returned to the state she had been in before, but Stoick still worried she might never wake up, and Toothless worried too. She should have woken up.

In the village, dragons and humans were slowly learning to coexist with each other, many dragons from the nest deciding to live on Berk. It wasn't easy. Many argued that the dragons should leave, and that they weren't meant to coexist; that the dragons should find their own home and leave them be. Others wanted the dragons dead, still bitter over what they did. There were only a few who took to the change smoothly. It took a lot of explaining and re-explaining from Aric, and fights often broke out, either between dragon and Viking, or Viking and Viking, but eventually with the help of Aric and the teens, Berk was beginning to live in peace with dragons.

By the end of the second week since Hiccup had been unconscious, Aric also acquired his own dragon. He had been walking through the village on the way to the Haddock household, when he spotted a strange yet familiar looking dragon flying by. He had decided to follow it, the dragon landing in a field just outside of town. What stood before him was a dragon unlike he'd ever seen. It had the body of a light blue and black Night Fury, but had spikes similar to that of a Nadder's on its tail, head, and even on the backs of it's paws and feet. Using the technique Hiccup taught them, he trained the dragon and brought it back to his friends. There, Fishlegs confirmed it must have been a hybrid like Hiccup was, and they named it a Midnight Nadder. They later determined the Midnight Nadder must have been a female, and Aric decided to name her Shadowstar because of the star shape around her right eye. At last he had his own dragon, and it was so much cooler than his sister's normal old Nadder.

Astrid wasn't jealous though, no matter how childish her brother became trying to make her be. It wasn't long before he just gave up and returned to his normal annoying self.

* * *

The last thing Hiccup remembered was her and Toothless trying to escape the explosion caused by the Queen's body. Then there was nothing; nothing but a bludgeon-like tail. And now there was darkness, the warm feeling of home present. Her eyes opened slowly, a dim glow, and black scales with big green eyes filling her vision.

"Hey Toothless", she muttered as the previously whining Night Fury playfully batted and nudged her face. He began to nudge even harder after that, licking her, and unable to contain his excitement. Hiccup began to move away from the overly excited dragon, holding a hand up to shield herself slightly, but it did little to stop her brother. "Okay, okay, I'm happy to see you too bud", she laughed. "Now just―ACK!" she yelped, popping into a sitting position, when he accidentally stepped on her stomach.

Suddenly Hiccup realized where she was and her ears shot up. "Uh… I'm in…my house. You're…in my house", she looked to Toothless who was bouncing where he stood unable to stand still. "Does my dad know you're hear?!" she asked as Toothless began to pounce around like he were still a little dragon pup, talking too fast for her to understand a word. Honestly, sometimes Toothless acted more like a child than the grown dragon he was supposed to be. He came up to her again at the foot of the bed ready to lick her again, and she held her hands up to shield herself again. Then Toothless got the wonderful idea to leap onto the rafters. It only made Hiccup more stressed.

"Oh, no...no… Toothless, stop. Please?"

**"What?" **he genuinely asked, poking his head down to look at her.

"Just… Come on…"

Instinctively, Hiccup made a move to get up, but was stopped when she felt something disturbingly off. Slowly, she peeled back the blanket covering her and her eyes widened, ears drooping, when saw her left leg. Or, what was left of it. She wasn't exactly sure how to react. Sure, a lot of Vikings in her village had missing limbs; she would be able to get on fine, but that still didn't make it any easier. She'd have to learn to walk all over again, and she knew it wouldn't be easy; not at first. One by one she placed each foot down on the ground, first her right foot, and then her left foot made from metal and wood.

**"****I'm** **sorry"**, Toothless moaned.

"Bud, it's not your fault", Hiccup told him.

**"Yes… Yes…"** Toothless argued.

Hiccup didn't understand. She looked at him confused. "What? No. Toothless, you have nothing to blame yourself for. It was my plan. It's not like you bit my leg off", she ended lightly. But then Toothless ducked his head crooning ashamedly. "You did…" Hiccup realized sadly. "But―?"

**".…." **Toothless was speaking, but Hiccup didn't understand. It was too fast, too jumbled.

"Bud, stop!" she exclaimed, stopping him. Hiccup sighed. Then, after a moment, she gave him a smile. "You know what, it doesn't matter. I know you'd never try to hurt me", Hiccup held his face. "And now, we're even", she said, before she brought her tail up seeing it in perfect condition. "Well, sort of…" Hiccup didn't know exactly how to feel about that. She would still be able to learn to fly someday, but she wasn't sure if that was supposed to make her feel better or worse.

Hiccup took a few deep breaths, Toothless right by her side as she got ready to try standing. She did it, holding on to one of the bed posts preparing herself to take her first step. She moved slightly forward putting just a little weight on her left leg; it hurt, but it wasn't too bad. She decided to be bold, and take one big step. Hiccup took another deep breath, and then stepped forward using her left leg, putting an awful lot of pressure on it. It made her stumble in pain and she immediately fell forward, but Toothless caught her and proceeded in helping her to the door.

"Thanks bud."

Once at the door, she let go of Toothless, and pulled the large wooden door open. She was greeted with the sight of a Monstrous Nightmare, and shut the door with haste and a scream of surprise.

"Toothless, stay here."

Toothless only purred in response, as Hiccup opened the door again, but this time found Snotlout riding the Nightmare with other Vikings on other dragons following. Dragons were absolutely everywhere, and no Viking even batted an eye.

"I knew it. I'm dead", Hiccup said bluntly.

"No, but you gave it your best shot", her father said, coming up to her laughing and placing a hand on her shoulder. "So…what do you think?" he asked gesturing to the village.

They began to make their way down towards the town when people noticed her.

"Hey look, its Hiccup!" They cheered and many came towards them, surrounding them and happy to see she was okay. It unnerved Hiccup; how did this happen?

"Turns out all we needed was a little more of…this", her father told her, but when she heard it this time, it sounded like less of an insult, and more of praise.

"You just gestured to all of me", Hiccup replied, taken back. Her father only smiled and nodded in return. They believed her? They understood? Hiccup had so many questions but they could wait till later, as Gobber then came up, pushing passed some villagers.

"Well…most of you", he said. "That bit's my handy work", he gestured to her leg. "With a little Hiccup flair thrown in. Think it'll do?"

Hiccup picked up her foot as if examining it. "I…might make a few tweaks."

Everyone laughed at the little joke, and Hiccup smiled at that. How did so much change?

The she was punched in the shoulder, and when she turned she saw it was Aric, because of course it was. "That's for scaring me", he said.

"Wha-what, is it always gonna be this way? Cause I…" He stopped her when he leaned in kissing her lips. It was quick, but it made Hiccup's cheeks go a bit red.

"I could get used to it", she said a little shocked, but happy.

Gobber came back with a new saddle and prosthetic and presented it to Hiccup. "Welcome home", he gave it to her. She took it, and in the next second Toothless came barreling through the crowd.

**"****You like****?"**

Aric and Hiccup only laughed at the sight. "Yeah buddy. How about we go flying?"

He ran up to her in excitement and then calmed down a bit to allow her to put the new prosthetic and saddle on. Hiccup got on to test it out; she unfurled the new red tail fin using the mechanism Gobber made to fit her own prosthetic. Now, it was as if they were one. Aric came up, ready to fly on his new dragon Hiccup would have to ask about later, and Hiccup looked down to Toothless.

"You ready?" she asked him.

**"Yes"**, he replied, and Hiccup looked up and out into the village thinking about how she needed to change her first journal entry.

_This is Berk._ _It snows nine months of the year and hails the other three. Any food that grows here is tough and tasteless. The people that grow here are even more so. The only upsides are the pets. While other places have ponies, or parrots…we have__―_

"Dragons", she finished fondly looking back down at Toothless. The four launched up into the sky flying all over the village, finding the other teens along the way and continuing to race. To get further ahead Hiccup spread and beat her own wings.

_And I'm one of them. I used to hate this side of me, but not anymore. How could I after meeting Toothless? He showed me what being a dragon truly means, and showed me that I'm not what I, or my father, ever thought I was. I may be small, I may be half dragon, but I am not a nuisance. I'm not a mistake__. I'm not __a demon__,__ a monster, nor, am I a curse! __I am__ Hiccup Haddock III! And that's who'll I'll always be._

Hiccup and Toothless shot up into the sky spinning with a triumphant roar—who made it, no one down below would ever know.

**=The End=**

* * *

Credits Song: Touch the Sky from Brave


End file.
